


The Decay of Lying

by TeamTHEFT



Series: De Profundis [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Sherlock (TV), Torchwood
Genre: F/M, Family, Fem!Harry, Female Harry, Female Harry Potter, Master of Death Harry Potter, MoD!Harry, Sequel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-28
Updated: 2017-03-26
Packaged: 2018-07-18 17:55:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 24,782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7324915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeamTHEFT/pseuds/TeamTHEFT
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sequel to In The Gutter, Looking Up At The Stars. Harry, Sherlock and Co. have entered an alternate universe through the Veil. This new world brings new troubles, new relationships, and an overall life. '</p><p>And those new problems?</p><p>It involves aliens. And death. But what doesn't involve death when Harry's involved?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Whole New world

**Author's Note:**

> This is the sequel to In The Gutters, Looking Up At the Stars. If you haven't seen Torchwood, you can still read it - I'm planning on trying to keep things self-explanatory if I can. 
> 
> This sequel will focus on Harry, Sherlock & Co.'s adventures in the new universe.
> 
> I hope you all enjoy this!!!

The new world wasn’t all that different from the old one, they realized quite soon.

After landing in a park late at night, John and Mary were able to procure a hotel room for them for the night while they attempted to heal Lucius, Severus and Sirius. 

Lucius died in the middle of the night.

Harry vanished the body. 

Sirius was still holding on, but not improving as he ought to in Harry’s opinion. 

While Harry healed, Sherlock was out with Mary in an attempt to scout the area and figure out all they could. John and Mrs. Hudson both helped Harry and put Theo to sleep. 

The night progressed, and once Sirius and Severus were stable, Harry fell asleep.

 

*****

 

She woke up the next morning to Sherlock, his arms wrapped tightly around her waist. 

“Morning,” she murmured. Sherlock cracked and eye and gave her a half smile.

“Morning. We’re in Wales,” Sherlock said. 

Harry shot up.

“Wales? Really?” she asked.

“Not only Wales. Bloody Cardiff,” John added from the small table where he was sipping a cup of tea. 

“Of all the places, we end up in Cardiff. Anything different from our world?” Harry asked. Sherlock shifted into a sitting position.

“Tell her about the books, dear,” Mrs. Hudson said.

“What books?” Harry asked. Sherlock sighed and pulled bag off the floor, setting it on the bed between them.

“Our lives are books, here,” Sherlock said. Harry opened the bag and let out a gasp.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone

“How do they know about that?” Harry asked, eyes wide.

“I don’t know. But there’s one on me too,” Sherlock said, pulling out a thick volume with his name across the front. 

“So going by our names is out,” Harry realized.

“Not quite. Mrs. Hudson should be fine. And we were talking, before you woke up. It…it might work out. We can create identities for ourselves, but we should make them all intertwined. Mrs. Hudson will pose as our mother, yours and mine,” John said.

“John and Harry Hudson?” Harry asked skeptically.

“You don’t have to keep it. Because you’ll be married to me. If you’d like,” Sherlock said, quickly backtracking as John gave him a glare. 

Harry hesitated. 

“What’s your last name to be?” Harry asked him. 

“Holmes. It’s popular here. I checked. I’ll go by my first name – William Holmes,” Sherlock said. 

“We were talking and decided that Sirius would pose as your father,” John added carefully. Harry glanced from Sirius, who was still not looking too well, and Severus who was awake and leaning against the wall. 

“I look more like Severus,” Harry pointed out. The lot of them exchanged looks. 

“She does,” Sherlock agreed.

“If you don’t mind, Mrs. Hudson, Severus then can be the father. Separated father, if you don’t want the attachment there,” John said. Mrs. Hudson nodded.

“I’m fine with posing as divorced,” Mrs. Hudson said. Severus nodded.

“And Sirius will be his brother. We were considering the names Seth and Sid Hudson for them, since they’re close enough we can pass off any misspeaks,” Sherlock said. Harry nodded.

“Sounds good,” she said, before turning to Mary.

“And how do you fit in?” she asked.

“I’m Sherlock’s brother. Mary Holmes, soon to be Mary Hudson,” Mary said with a smile.

“It’s close enough we should be fine. I’ll be Harry Holmes, and he’ll be Theo Holmes?” Harry asked.

“Yes. That should be fine,” Sherlock said.

“Right. How can we go about getting these identities into place? Do I need to take care of it?” Harry asked.

“Can you?” Sherlock wanted to know.

“I can create the documents if you can find me samples to take them from,” Harry informed him. 

“Okay. Do we have enough money to get us by until we can get our identities solidified and jobs secured?” John asked.

“Oh yes,” Harry said.

“I have to agree. I had Mycroft clear out my bank accounts as well as yours,” Sherlock added. 

“Right then. What do we want to do today, to get our identities set up?” John wanted to know.

“I’ll take Harry with me to get our identities created. If you and Mary want to look for a house for us, under your new assumed names, that would be great. Severus, you and Mrs. Hudson can go pick up some groceries for us, as well as newspapers. We need all the information on this world as we can get. We’ll meet back here for tea,” Sherlock said. Harry pulled out a small bag of pounds and gave them to each of the teams. 

“See you all soon,” Harry said. 

 

*****

 

Setting up fake identities, Harry realized, was much easier than she’d thought. By the end of the day, she’d created them all full identities and, with Sherlock’s quick thinking, entire backstories. 

John and Mary, it seemed, had already found them a house they liked. It was in a smaller neighborhood and used to be a small inn or so. There were ten bedrooms with five bathrooms, as well as a good sized downstairs. The three floor house was falling apart and filled with mold, so they were able to haggle a cheap price – one they would bring the money for the next day.

“You can fix it though, right?” John wanted to know.

“It won’t be a problem,” Harry said. 

“If you had your own wand, it’d be even easier,” Severus added lightly. 

Harry had been using Fred’s old wand. George had sent it with John when they’d crossed over. It was nowhere as easy to use as her own original had been, or even the Elder wand.

“Well, that’s simply not possible,” Harry said, shaking the thoughts from her head. 

“So we have a house and identities. Any news on this world?” Harry wanted to know, turning to Severus and Mrs. Hudson.

“It doesn’t look like there’s magic here, but there are aliens,” Severus said. 

“Aliens?” John asked, scoffing.

“Aliens. I read about them when Mary and I were doing our basic reconnaissance,” Sherlock agreed. 

“Right,” Harry agreed faintly. She stood.

“I’m going to go on a walk,” she announced.

“I’ll go with you,” John said, standing up quickly.

“No. I just need a quick walk. I need to clear my mind,” Harry said.

“You’ll leave Theo here?” Sherlock asked, his eyes trained on her.

“Yes. I will. I’m not running,” Harry protested. Sherlock nodded, still watching her.

“You have an hour,” he said.

“Only an hour,” Harry agreed before hesitating, grabbing the mobile from the table.

“Can you track me with this?” she wanted to know. 

“Easily,” Sherlock agreed.

“Good. If I’m not back in an hour, track me down,” Harry said.

“If you’re scared of danger, maybe someone should go with you,” John urged.

“Harry does everything she can alone,” Severus murmured, his voice silencing the others.

“I’ll be back once I’ve processed things,” Harry told them before all but running out the door. 

She didn’t stop running until she was halfway down the streets. She was sure Sherlock was already hacking the CCTV, but that didn’t bother her. 

It made her feel safer, honestly. 

She had walked a few blocks away when she saw the girl.

The girl was skipping along, and a man was driving slowly after her. It wasn’t until the car sped up alongside the girl that Harry turned her leisure stroll into a hurried jog. 

The man had climbed out of the car after the little girl by the time Harry had reached them.

“Hey! Leave her alone!” Harry shouted. The man turned from the little girl and focused his attention on Harry. The little girl didn’t move. 

“Why should I do that?” the man asked as he moved in on Harry, gripping her by both of her arms before she’d realized he had moved. Harry kneed him in the groin quickly before jerking backwards. She grabbed the little girl’s hand and took off running.

Around them, the wind blew, almost as if to carry them away from the man. 

Harry and the girl didn’t stop running until they reached a small walled-in park. 

“Are you okay?” Harry asked the girl.

“I’m fine. You saved me,” the girl said, her eyes focused solely on Harry.

“I did,” Harry said in agreement before glancing around. She had no idea where she was now – nor did she know exactly how much time had passed.

“Are you one of them?” the girl asked her.

“One of who?” Harry wanted to know.

“The fairies. Are you one of the fairies that play with me?” the girl asked.

“I’m not a fairy,” Harry said with a small laugh, “My name’s Harry.”

“I’m Jasmine,” the girl said, but she was staring behind Harry. Harry spun around, only to see small creatures flying towards her. They didn’t entirely resemble the Cornish pixies she’d seen in her second year at Hogwarts, but they did hold certain pixie-like characteristics. 

“Come away with us, chosen one,” the pixies begged, their voices ethereal. 

“Sorry. I dislike that title,” Harry said, gripping the little girl’s hand tighter in hers.

“It’s okay. They won’t hurt us. They love us. We’re to be them, one day. Although you’re much older than the others,” Jasmine explained, her nose scrunched up as she puzzled Harry’s age. 

“I’m not to be one of them,” Harry disagreed.

“You’ll see,” Jasmine said, wrenching her hand away from Harry ask she skipped away with the pixies. 

Shaken, Harry made her way back to the hotel to the best of her abilities, the words echoing in her ears. 

 

***

 

Two weeks later, they’d fixed up the house and had moved in. Harry hadn’t told them about the fairy creatures – and no one had found out. 

John had gotten a job at a local clinic. Mary had begun re-planning the wedding – a much smaller affair now since they didn’t know anyone. Mrs. Hudson found herself getting on with the local elderly women, going out for tea just about every day. 

Harry wasn’t certain what Severus and Sherlock did – the two stayed home to take care of Theo and Sirius, leaving Harry to wander. She considered jobs, but she couldn’t find something she thought she would enjoy and the others were adamant that she found a job he loved. 

So she taken to rambling about the city. She would always leave at nine, come home for lunch at noon, and come back at the end of the day, around five. They all but encouraged her to do so. 

It was on one of these rambles that she was wandering through a wooded area when she saw the girl again. Jasmine.

And the fairies.

“It’s you!” Jasmine exclaimed, her eyes going wide as her face lit up. 

“What’s going on?” Harry asked her.

“It’s time to go away,” Jasmine said. There was shouting behind them and a man appeared, a woman close behind him. 

Harry stood, watching as the man tried talking Jasmine out of going and the fairies taking her anyways. The woman broke down sobbing. 

Harry was too distracted by the fairies, who chose to converge on her now. 

“Come away, chosen one. Come with us. Escape this world. Come play,” the fairies urged her.

“I’m fine, thanks,” Harry said, but her voice was faint. 

The fairies’ faces became elongated, more vicious. 

“Come. Away,” the voices ordered. 

“I said NO!” Harry screamed, squeezing her eyes closed. She collapsed to the ground as her energy left her. Her arms wrapped themselves around her, eyes still closed. 

“Teddy. Stay for Teddy,” Harry told herself, whispered the words, repeated them over and over again. The urge to leave, to disappear with these creatures – it was so strong it was painful. But Harry had always been stubborn. 

And there was nothing in the world that would keep her from her son. Or her…her husband. Because that’s what Sherlock was now. Her husband. She had a husband. An almost brother. An almost sister-in-law. An almost mother and father. Her godfather. And her son. She had a whole family. 

And nothing was going to pull her away from them. 

The voices faded. Her pocket, the one with her wand, felt heavier now. Nearly twice as heavy. 

As did her right pointer finger. 

And her shoulders. 

“I think we need to bring her back to the Hub with us,” a voice was saying as she opened her eyes. 

Resting on her finger was the Resurrection stone that she had lost in the forest. 

Cold dread filled her.

Surrounding her on the ground were rose petals. There were also vines that were holding her feet the ground – rose vines, thorns and all. 

She stiffened entirely as she realized the vines were wrapped quite a ways around her. 

“It’s okay. Shhh. You’re safe now,” the man from earlier was saying, his mouth near her ear. He had his arm around her shoulders, she realized. He was trying to comfort her. 

He seemed to understand what had just happened. Which was a bit more than she understood at that moment. 

“What happened?” Harry managed to ask, her voice raw. 

“You’re safe now. Focus on that. We’re going to cut you out of here, and then bring you back to our headquarters to fix you up, alright?” the man asked her. Harry whimpered as the thorns dug deeper into her, but bit back an actual yelp. 

“Gwen! Go get Owen and Tosh, now! You can retcon the party! I need them here!” the man ordered a girl Harry hadn’t seen approach them. The girl turned and took off running. 

“The thorns. How far up are they?” the man wanted to know. Harry tried to move slightly, only to wince.

“They’ve…they’re embedded in my clothes,” Harry whispered. The man brushed his fingers around her neck, only to hiss and pull them back. 

“They’re holding you pretty tight. Don’t worry. We’ll get you out,” the man promised. There was crashing behind them and two people appeared, an Asian woman and a man with a scrunched up face. 

“Owen, we need surgical scissors. The creatures attacked her. There are thorns wrapped around her entire body, all the way up to her neck,” the man holding her informed the other man. 

“Okay, Owen is going to cut you out. Just stay calm with me here. I’m Jack. Captain Jack Harkness. What’s your name?” the man holding her asked her. Harry watched as the newly identified Owen pulled a pair of scissors from a box and started cutting at the thorns wrapped around her feet. 

“Harry Holmes,” Harry said quietly. 

“That’s an interesting name,” Jack told her soothingly. 

“Jack, there’s a problem,” Owen said, frowning, “I’ll have to cut her clothes off as well. I can cut if Tosh can pull them off. It’ll take less time,” Owen said. 

“Okay. Don’t worry. I’ll cover you up with my coat once you’re free,” Jack promised her.

“My husband won’t be pleased,” Harry managed to say with a shaky laugh.

“A husband? What’s his name?” Jack asked, his voice sounding interested.

Harry knew what he was doing. He was trying to distract her, because he thought she was going into shock. 

 

He had no idea how much she’d been through in the past. 

 

“William Holmes. I call him Sherlock though. He’s an ass about making predictions all the time. And he’s always right with his little deductions. It’s bloody impossible to live with him at times. My brother is always fighting with him,” Harry said. 

The two made quick work of her jeans, managing to cut and pull them off with ease. 

“Who’s Teddy?” Jack asked her. 

“My son. Theo Holmes. I sometimes call him Teddy,” Harry admitted. 

“You know what? You’re pretty bloody calm,” Owen said, pausing from his cutting to stare up at her. 

“I’ve had weirder things happen to me,” Harry admitted. Owen frowned at her and cut another chunk of thorns off. Her hands were covered in the thorns, and they were digging into her skin already. 

“What sort of things?” Jack asked her.

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” Harry told him ruefully.

“I think you’ll find that we’re some of the only people who would truthfully believe you,” Jack said, his expression dead serious. Harry shrugged, only to wince painfully. The thorns dug into her shoulders with the movement. 

“Just stuff. What time is it?” Harry asked suddenly. 

“Half past five,” Tosh said after glancing at her watch. 

“Shit. I need to get home,” Harry said urgently. 

“Not right now you don’t. You’re still stuck!” Owen protested.

“I always get home right at five. My family expects it. If I’m not there, they’ll panic. They’ll think I’ve been kidnapped a…” Harry drifted off.

“Again?” Jack finished her statement.

“Again,” Harry agreed, her voice more subdued. 

“We can call them once we reach our headquarters,” Jack promised her. 

Harry was silent.

“Those…things. They weren’t real fairies,” Harry said. 

“No. Not what you imagine are fairies, anyway,” Jack agreed with her. 

“What are they? They aren’t aliens, are they?” Harry asked, remembering how Sherlock had said this world had aliens in place of magical creatures. 

“No. They’re a part of earth. They choose children to become one of them across time,” Jack explained.

“Then why did they want me?”

Her words were met with silence. Owen kept cutting at her shirt and Tosh continued pulling the small chunks from her skin, leaving a bloody mess behind. 

“I’m not sure. They usually target children who are lonely, disconnected from the world,” Jack explained. Harry stared at him. 

“I…I’ve been going through a hard time. We…my family and I…don’t have friends around here really. We just moved here a few weeks ago, and they all seem to have found a way to fit in. I haven’t,” Harry admitted. 

“So it sensed that? But the children always want to leave,” Jack explained.

“I’m not a child. I have a son. I’m an adult,” Harry said. 

“I may run a test or two on you then, back at the lab,” Owen said. 

“No. No tests,” Harry protested. 

Owen managed to finish cutting the thorns off of her and Jack immediately wrapped her in his coat. She tried to stand, but in the process of doing so managed to tumble back down. Jack caught her around the waist and heaved her up into his arms, readjusting the coat. 

“Right. Let’s go,” Jack said, walking her through the woods and into someone’s yard. 

“Jack! I’ve finished,” a girl, Gwen, said as she ran up to them.

“Okay. We’re heading to the Hub to get her cleaned up and checked out. Owen, you’re driving,” Jack said, tossing him some keys. 

Harry glanced around as they walked out of the house and onto the street, searching for a CCTV. Sherlock, by this point, was surely watching the CCTV to look for her. When her eyes hit a camera, she gave it a smile. 

So maybe he wouldn’t think she was being kidnapped. Well, not entirely kidnapped.

“What’s the Hub? Who are you?” Harry asked as Jack climbed into the backseat, Harry still on his lap. 

“Hub’s our Headquarters. We’re Torchwood,” Jack said. 

“And what is Torchwood? No – wait. Hold on. I’ve read something about you,” Harry said, scrunching her eyes shut.

“You shouldn’t have,” Jack said flatly.

“No, I did. My husband did research when we moved here. I’m pretty sure he told us about you guys,” Harry said. 

“Where did he get his research from?” Jack wanted to know.

“I know better than to ask him questions. You would too, if you met him,” Harry said. 

The pocket of Jack’s coat vibrated slightly.

“You have a text message,” Harry said. Jack frowned at her and dug in the pocket, pulling out the phone. He stared at it blankly for a moment.

“What’s wrong?” Gwen asked him, staring intently at him from the seat next to him.

“It just says ‘Five minutes’. Maybe it’s the wrong number,” Jack decided, slipping it back into his own pants pocket. 

Harry bit back a smile.

It wasn’t the wrong number.

Sherlock was on his way. 

 

*****

 

Owen drove incredibly fast through town, leaving Harry with chance to observe the surroundings. He parked by what looked to be a docks area and they carried her into a tourist office. 

Standing in the tourist office was another man, smiling politely at the front desk. When he saw Jack and the others, his smile dropped. 

“Injuries?” he asked.

“Only to a civilian. Who doesn’t act like a civilian should. We could use some coffee,” Jack said. Ianto nodded and behind him, a door rolled back. 

“That’s not dramatic at all,” Harry murmured to herself. Jack chuckled.

“I thought it was fitting,” he said, winking at her. 

“I wouldn’t wink at me. My husband might get jealous,” Harry informed him immediately. 

“Your husband’s not here,” Jack pointed out.

“Yet. And just because he isn’t currently present doesn’t mean he can’t see what’s happening. He’s unique like that,” Harry said. 

Harry was carried down into a lab-like room and set on the table. 

“Not very comfortable,” Harry said.

“Yeah well, sweetheart, no one else’s complained,” Owen spat back at her.

“That’s because you only do autopsies,” Jack said, amused.

“You are NOT cutting me up!” Harry protested, immediately trying to slide off the table. 

“No. We’re not. Calm down. Now, let’s check out those cuts. They looked pretty nasty,” Jack reminded Owen, who then wasted no time in pulling the coat off of her. 

Only to gape.

The cuts were gone. Harry cursed her quick healing for a moment. 

“Jack?” Tosh said quietly. They were all staring at her.

“Yeah?” Jack asked.

“Maybe we should call her husband now?” Tosh asked.

“Might be a good idea. So we can figure out what the hell’s going on,” Jack said.

“No need,” Harry said, waving him off.

“You were worried earlier, about your husband getting worried,” Tosh pointed out.

“I was. But then he said he was coming,” Harry said.

“And how did he say that?” Jack asked, his expression hardening. 

“I sent you a text.”

The voice came from behind them. Each of them spun around, guns pulled from their pockets as they did. 

Sherlock was standing there, staring down at them with hard eyes. Behind him stood John, Mary, and Severus. 

“Sherlock! Who’s watching Theo?” Harry demanded.

“Mrs. Hudson is. Now. What the hell are you doing with my wife?” Sherlock asked, glaring down at them. John had his gun out as well, Harry noted. Harry pulled herself off of the table. 

“Coat please,” Harry called out. Jack turned around, distracted. 

Sherlock took off his coat and tossed it to her. Harry wrapped it around herself firmly. 

“What did you do?” Sherlock asked her.

“I was attacked by fairy creatures,” Harry said flatly. 

Severus snorted. 

“Only you,” he said.

“Do we need to wipe their memories?” Severus asked her.

“What?” Jack asked, glancing between them.

“I haven’t decided yet. I just healed abnormally fast. And apparently those fairy things only attack lonely children. And the children always go with them,” Harry said.

“Always the abnormality,” Sherlock said fondly. 

“Don’t I know it,” Harry muttered. 

“Hold on one bloody second. Are you bloody kidding me right now?” Owen asked, glancing between them.

“No?” Harry supplied slowly.

“Don’t you hear them?” Owen asked Jack.

“Yes?” 

“Mrs. Hudson, Sherlock, Harry, Teddy – his name is probably John Watson. And that man is a Severus Snape if I ever knew one,” Owen said. 

“What are you going on about?” Gwen shot back at him. 

“They have fake names. Or something,” Owen said. 

“So what? You think they came from the Rift?” Jack asked skeptically.

“Sounds like a possibility,” Ianto said as he entered the room with mugs of coffee. He eyed the newcomers before setting it down. 

“We don’t have any records of it,” Jack pointed out.

“There was a large rift spike about a month ago,” Tosh pointed out. 

“We never found out what caused it,” Owen added.

“Hello! Probably me,” Harry said, waving at them from Sherlock’s side. She’d moved quickly while they weren’t paying attention.

“So…what? They come from another universe?” Gwen scoffed.

“We do. Faster healers,” Harry pointed out.

“You aren’t really Harry Potter, though, are you? There’s no way. Magic isn’t real,” Jack said with a scoff. Harry considered summoning her wand and showing him how wrong he was, but decided against it. She could use the backup surprise later.

“Nah. Just an odd coincidence. I did go to a boarding school up in Scotland, where Sev taught me. Just without magic. And Sherlock was also in our….universe?” Harry stumbled over the word. 

“Enough chatter,” Severus snapped before pulling out his wand. He muttered Obliviate before pointing at the lot of them. 

“We could have talked our way out of it,” Sherlock muttered.

“Better to just obliviate them and get rid of any evidence we were here,” Severus said.

“I’ll take care of the computers and cameras,” Mary volunteered.

“John, you need to move them. Move them all to the conference room. We’ll stage a drinking game and have them having fallen asleep from it. Where did they see you?” Severus asked.

“With the fairies. Erase it from there,” Harry explained. Sherlock was at her side in an instant.

“I need the scraps of my clothing. They had to cut it off. Thorns and all that,” Harry said. 

“Right. Let’s go get it,” Sherlock said. He pulled her along, glancing around the place.

“Probably in the office. They were suspicious of me,” Harry said. The two of them wandered into what they presumed was Jack’s office, only to find a large bag on his desk.

“See? There,” Harry said, quickly picking it up and opening the bag. She found where her pockets were and reached inside of them, pulling out her wand.

Only to freeze.

It wasn’t the only wand in her pocket. She slowly pulled out the second wand, only to stare at it.

The Elder Wand. 

There was no way it could be here. She’d hidden it near Hogwarts. 

“Harry? What’s that?” Sherlock asked, his voice low. Harry shook her head, tucking both wands into her pocket before digging for anything else she’d left in her pockets. She was about to close the bag when the shimmery material of the Invisibility Cloak caught her attention.

She hadn’t been wearing the invisibility cloak.

“Odd,” Harry murmured, slinging the cloak over her shoulders as well, although she left it undone. 

It gave her an unnatural feeling, having all three Hallows on her figure. That must’ve been what kept the fairies from her, she realized.

“Harry,” Sherlock repeated, staring firmly at her.

“It’s fine. Let’s finish up and get out of here.”


	2. A Second Encounter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! I've gotten quite the response to this! I hope I can keep meeting everyone's expectations! 
> 
> I finally got around to start posting the first story of this on Fanfiction.net. I'm updating it about once a week though so I don't pass this one by - I'm using this as the first one to get updated, since it was the starting point. :)

After the encounter with Torchwood, Harry found herself able to move forward. She found a job as a teaching assistant at a school. She worked directly under a woman called Sarah Brisco, who Harry actually became friends with relatively quickly. 

Severus also began studying up and found a job in research. He was starting small, as a research assistant, but had found himself becoming increasingly interested in ‘muggle’ medicines. 

Sherlock took it upon himself to educate Theo in a manner he saw fit. Mary had found a job too, only Harry wasn’t 100% sure what the job was. 

Harry was getting ready for work one morning when the school asked her to bring her paperwork over to Sarah’s house. Sarah was supposed to fax it in that day, but Sarah wasn’t expected to come into work that day. 

With a kiss to Theo’s head and a quick kiss to Sherlock’s cheek, she took off for Sarah’s house.

She’d been over to Sarah’s a few times in the last month. Sarah enjoyed having someone to hang out with, and Harry felt the same. Even though Sarah and her husband were twelve years older than Harry, Harry acted older.

That, and they found Sherlock amusing as hell. 

Harry took the bus to their neighborhood and knocked on the door.

Nothing.

“Sarah? Mark?” Harry called, knocking a bit louder. The newspaper was still on the doorstep.

Mark always had to read the newspaper with breakfast. And he was always due at work by this time. 

In the background, she could hear their dog barking. 

Harry pulled their hideout key from in the flower pot and unlocked the door. Sarah was always forgetting her keys and had used the hideout key each time they came to the house.

“Sarah? Mark?” she called out. The dog was still barking. Harry quickly went to the dog crate and allowed the dog out, putting her on the leash into the backyard. The dog hurriedly did its business. 

The lights were all out still. 

“Sarah?” Harry called, feeling highly uncomfortable. She pulled out her wand, walking forward to investigate. The bottom floor had nothing. All that she had left was the master bedroom upstairs.

And the more she walked around, the more nervous she got. 

She knocked on the door, before opening it slowly.

And promptly ran back down the stairs.

Laying on the bed, bathed in their own blood, was Mark and Sarah. 

Painted on the wall, in their blood, was the name Torchwood. 

Harry made it down to the kitchen and hunched over the counter, pressing her face against the cool marble. The battle at Hogwarts didn’t have as much blood as it did bodies. She really hadn’t seen the savage side of death before. 

She needed to call someone. Harry grabbed their home phone and quickly called 999.

“Hello, 999. What’s your emergency?” the person answering the phone said.

“I’m at 8134 Vale Boulevard. There’s been two murders. The Briscos, who own the house. They’re…they’re dead,” Harry whispered. 

“Can I get your name? Is there any chance they’re alive?” the person asked her.

“No. There’s…there’s too much blood. It’s everywhere. I…I’m Harry. Harry Holmes. I was sent over this morning to give Sarah some papers. I work with her. I came in with the spare key. They…we were friends,” Harry said.

“Okay Harry. I need you to stay put. Go in a room they’re not in. Don’t touch anything. Just sit in a chair, on a couch, something. Someone will be there soon.” the person on the other line said. 

Harry did as they said, sinking into the couch in the living room before curling up into a ball.

She didn’t really hear the police officers come in. She didn’t hear much of anything. Her shoulders shook lightly, but no tears came from her eyes.

At one point, she dimly felt someone pulling something from her pocket – her wallet, her brain supplied dully – but she couldn’t pull herself out of her shock. 

“Have you given her anything?” a voice asked, surprisingly close to her ear.

“Well, you should have,” the voice added before she felt the prick of a needle in her arm. Her limbs seemed to slowly unlock and the haze that had clouded her mind receded. She began to uncurl herself, and someone helped her with it, straightening out her limbs before settling her upright in the chair. 

It was Owen. The ratfaced Torchwood agent. He stared blankly at her for a moment, as if remembering something, before he blinked the emotion away.

“Right. Feeling any better?” he asked abruptly. Harry opened her mouth, then closed it. She looked around the room. There was the Torchwood team there, as well as a few other officers.

“Did you make the 999 call?” Jack asked her. Harry swallowed and nodded.

“I was supposed to bring my paperwork over for Sarah to fax in. I work with Sarah. I…I’ve been over a few times. She showed me where the hideout key is,” Harry said. 

“Did you see anything to hint as to what had happened?” the officer asked her. Harry shook her head. And her eyes widened.

“I didn’t…the school. I didn’t tell the school. I was supposed to be at the school!” Harry babbled, shooting up in the chair. Owen pushed her back down.

“We can notify the school,” he pointed out. He nodded to Tosh, who stepped into the kitchen. 

“How did you get here?” Gwen asked her sharply. 

“I took the bus and walked the rest,” Harry said. 

“Do you have anyone we can call?” she then asked a bit softer in tone. 

“My husband. William. He…he’ll want to know where I am,” Harry said.

“Do you have a mobile?” Jack asked.

“I never think to carry it around,” Harry responded automatically, absently.

“William Holmes, then?” Jack asked her. Harry nodded. 

“We’ll have him come here to bring you home,” Gwen told her with another smile. 

Part of Harry wanted to protest to that, knowing Sherlock would just insult someone, but Jack was looking a bit too closely at her. 

“Actually, we’d like to take you back with us. Make sure you’re okay,” Jack said. Harry’s heart sank.

He suspected something.

“I…I just…I feel better, now,” Harry said slowly.

“That’d be the drugs, mate,” Owen said with a laugh. 

“This is a crime scene still,” one of the officers said drily. 

“Come on,” Jack said, lifting her off of the chair.

“I can walk,” Harry protested.

“I’d rather not chance it,” Jack said.

“Will you keep us posted?” the officer called after him.

“Sure,” Jack retorted.

He didn’t sound very heartfelt.

Harry was helped into a car and brought back to the Hub once more. 

“So what? You think this is someone we’ve pissed off?” Tosh asked.

“Hey, if it is, we’ve got a head start. If we’re narrowing it down to that, we’ve got what, four to five million people? In the city alone,” Owen said snarkily.

“And that’s just the humans,” Jack said before glancing at Harry.

“She’s way too calm,” Tosh said. Harry started at her words, glancing at Tosh. 

She was escorted back into the Hub where she was settled onto the couch. 

“Now, we have a question for you. How did you manage to wipe our memories?” Jack asked, staring at her.

“What?” Harry asked, playing dumb. It would work out better for her, she assumed.

“It’s a nice try. You must’ve found our retcon stash and dosed us all. I don’t know how or why – I just know you did,” Jack said.

“If you don’t remember me, why do you think I did something to you?” Harry asked. 

“Because I have a small camera hidden in my office. Other cameras were all wiped, but whoever you had with you didn’t know about the one in my office. So I know you and someone else was here, and wiped our memories. But we don’t have traces of Retcon in our systems. I tested Tosh, Owen, and Ianto – nothing. But we all have the gap in our memories,” Jack accused. Harry remembered the story she started to tell them, before Sherlock showed up last time.

“I’ll…I’ll tell you, but can I please call my husband first? He’s…a bit wild. If he doesn’t know where I will, he will hack CCTV and find me,” Harry warned. 

“Stalker much?” Owen snorted.

“We prefer the term concerned. I’m rather jeopardy-friendly,” Harry said.

Jack winced at her choice of words. 

“Call him. Speaker phone, right now,” Jack said, pulling a mobile from his pocket and tossing it to her. Harry dialed the number and placed it on the table, the ringing clearly audible to the entire Torchwood team.

“Hello?” Harry breathed out a sigh of relief at his tone. It was his bored tone – he was in the middle of an experiment. Which meant he was getting in less trouble than usual. 

“William? It’s me, Harry,” Harry said. The other side was quiet.

“I thought you were at school. What happened?” Sherlock asked as a crash sounded in the room.

“What was that?” Harry asked quickly.

“Nothing dearest. Theo, I told you, don’t add the acid until after the neutralizer. Mrs. Hudson! We’re all okay,” Sherlock shouted in the background. 

“I told you not to let Theo help with experiments! Especially not acid. First father and now you!” Harry scolded, giving Sherlock a second clue that someone was listening in. 

“You didn’t tell me what happened.”

“I didn’t,” Harry agreed. She hesitated for a moment, trying to come up with words.

“Remember the Briscos?” she asked.

“Of course. Husband was having an affair – I told you two weeks back,” Sherlock said smugly.

“They’re dead. I was supposed to bring a paper over to Sarah and…well, I’m at the police station. Er, a police station of sorts. I’m okay,” Harry quickly reassured him. 

Sherlock was silent for a moment. 

“I don’t know who is listening in on this call, but if my wife is being threatened in any way, I will find you, and I will kill each and every one of you,” Sherlock promised. 

“I don’t think I’m being threatened,” Harry said carefully. 

“Would you realize if you were?” Sherlock asked her critically. 

“Probably not,” Harry realized. 

“You have until five. If my wife is not home at five, I will find you, and I will kill you all. They won’t find the bodies. That’s a promise,” Sherlock swore.

“I’ll talk to you later,” Harry said, “Give Theo a kiss for me?” 

Sherlock grumbled but agreed before hanging up the phone. She glanced up at the others, all of whom were watching her with varying expressions of apprehension.

“I would take his word,” Harry recommended, “When he gets bored he plots out each and every person he know’s deaths. As a mental exercise. He’s given me a few different highly creative scenarios for myself in the past.”

Tosh snorted at her words, while Gwen looked horrified.

“Now, you’re going to tell us what happened,” Jack said. 

“I…can we move to the conference room?” Harry asked. Jack didn’t look pleased at her suggestion but didn’t reject it. He grabbed her arm and hauled her up, his grip bruising on her upper arm. He deposited her straight into a chair before setting himself into one. The others also took seats around the table. 

“My family and I came through the rift a couple months back or so. It was an accident we were prepared for – we can with money and the means to create new identities. We’re human – we just came from an alternative reality. I…I was sort of part of an organization like Torchwood, in my world. I hadn’t been in ages, but we had something similar to what you call retcon. I used the last of it on you guys. I was scared,” Harry admitted.

“So you’ve worked with aliens before?” Jack asked.

“Not exactly aliens. We worked more with human plus. And other mythical things. But with a similar concept, I’d wager,” Harry tried explaining. 

“And you had something to do with the fairies?” Gwen demanded. Harry winced.

“They sensed I was from another world and tried to take me away as well. We didn’t want you asking questions – we were scared. I’ve been…I’ve been experimented on a bit in the past. We didn’t want that to happen again,” Harry said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. 

She made sure not to mention the healing. 

“How many of you are there?” Jack demanded. 

“Eight. My husband, brother, soon to be sister-in-law, son, father, mother, and uncle. We just needed a chance to live,” Harry tried explaining. 

“And you work at a school?” Jack asked. Harry bit her lip.

“Not much longer. Sarah was supposed to fax that paperwork in for me. They won’t take a delay,” she admitted. 

“The only way I feel comfortable with allowing you to remain here on Earth is if you come and work for us,” Jack said.

Each and every person exclaimed a what and an assortment of curses. 

“Jack, why?” Gwen whined.

“I’d rather have her under my nose. This way I can see what she and by extension her family are capable of, and keep her on a leash,” Jack said.

“We don’t even know if she’s qualified,” Tosh pointed out.

“We will train her, see where she’s capable. Call her a junior until we can figure out how much to trust her,” Jack said. He turned to Harry. 

“What do you say?” he asked.

“I didn’t think I had a choice,” Harry said, but internally she felt a thrill at the idea of doing dangerous work again. 

“Welcome to the team. Call it a trial run, if you will. Now, let’s get to the case. Owen?” Jack asked, turning his attention to Owen. Owen gave Harry a smile.

“I’m Owen Harper, Doctor. Since we didn’t introduce ourselves,” Owen said.

“You did. You just don’t remember it,” Harry couldn’t help herself from saying. Owen flashed her a smile before pulling his focus back to the case at hand.

“B67, aka Retcon, aka the magic ingredient of the amnesia pill,” Owen explained, primarily for Harry’s benefit. 

“And this belongs to us. Whoever this killer is, it’s somebody we gave the amnesia pill to,” Gwen said uneasily.

“Is he remembering that he’s a serial killer? Or is he becoming a serial killer because of the Retcon?” Owen wanted to know.

“Wait a minute. I’ve taken retcon!” Gwen protested, face rapidly paling. 

“Then better stay away from sharp objects. Ianto, how many people have we given amnesia pills to?” Jack asked. 

“Two thousand and eight,” Ianto said simply.

“Hey, what if they all become psychotic?” Owen asked, eyes widening as a grin splayed itself across his face.

“Do you have to sound so happy?” Tosh complaied.

“I’m just saying. Mean Streets,” Owen said. 

“Tosh, narrow the list down to fit Swanson’s profile. Start checking them out, fast as you can. Gwen, Owen, there’s got to be a link between the victims. Find the link, find the killer. Get to it,” Jack ordered.

“Jack, if there’s a link between the victims, why don’t we just ask the victims ourselves?” Gwen asked.

Harry felt her blood run cold.

“Not the right time for a séance, thank you very much,” Jack said, waving her off.

“The first time I met Torchwood, you had that glove,” Gwen pointed out. 

“Uh uh, no way,” Jack immediately rejected.

“Not after what it did to Suzie,” Owen agreed.

“It brings people back to life. Just for two minutes. We could question the murder victims,” Gwen pointed out.

“That’s exactly what she said. She was one of us, we trusted her and now she’s dead because of that thing,” Owen shot back angrily.

“The glove stays in the safe where it belongs,” Jack agreed.

“These murders are happening because of Torchwood. So Torchwood has got to do something.” Gwen said angrily. 

The room shared uneasily looks. Jack stood and went to his office, allowing the others to trail behind him. Harry followed reluctantly, twisting the ring around her finger. She did not want anything to do with resurrecting people. She’d had enough of that. 

By the time she’d made it into Jack’s office, he’d already gotten a metal glove from a box. 

“It fell through the Rift about forty years ago. Laid at the bottom of the Bay til we dredged it up. I always figured this wasn’t just lost. Whoever made it wanted to get rid of it. Look familiar?” Jack asked Harry. Harry shook her head.

“In my world, the dead usually stay dead,” she said. 

Unless it was her. 

Or Lord Voldemort.

Or even Sirius.

Maybe the dead didn’t stay as dead as she’d previously thought. 

“You know, we never gave it a cool name,” Owen pointed out.

“I thought we called it the Resurrection gauntlet,” Tosh said.

“Cool name,” Owen said, nodding. 

“What about the Risen Mitten?” Ianto suggested.

Everyone gave him a disbelieving look. 

“What? I think it’s catchy,” Ianto defended himself.

“You’re the only one,” Owen muttered. 

He ignored Ianto’s pointed glare. 

“Come on. You too, Holmes,” Jack ordered. Harry trailed behind them as they entered the lab room. Jack settled the box down on the counter as Owen pulled a body from the wall.

Harry stared.

“Who’s that?” she couldn’t help but ask.

“First victim. Alex Arwyn. We already got him here. The others should arrive soon, within a couple hours. We can start with him,” Jack explained. 

“Are you okay?” Gwen asked Jack, placing a hand on his shoulder. 

Jack ignored her as he finished shrugging the glove on. 

“Don’t forget, the maximum resurrection time is two minutes. That’s only because Suzie had practice. The most we’re likely to get is thirty seconds, okay? Tosh, you ready?” Jack asked her. Tosh moved away from them, up to her desk. She settled herself into the desk and started clicking away. 

“Ready. And recording. This man was victim number one, name, Alex Arwyn,” Tosh said aloud. Jack held his hand under the man’s head, eyes closed.

“Come on, Alex. Come back,” he urged.

“How does it work?” Gwen wanted to know. 

“You just sort of feel, like, reaching into the dark, finding the dead. I can’t. I don’t…ah! Damn! Ow!” Jack exclaimed, ripping the glove from his hand. 

“Nothing,” Owen said with a frown.

“Sorry. Never was good with this thing. Owen?” Jack asked.

“I tried last time. It only responded to Suzie,” Owen pointed out. 

“Try Harry. After all, it is her first day. Might as well make it memorable,” Tosh suggested. 

“I never got to try it,” Gwen pouted, but Jack was nodding. 

“You’re right. Gwen got a sex-crazed alien. How about it, Holmes? Wanna try your hand at raising the dead?” Jack asked, eyebrow raised.

“How does it work? Is it their spirit that comes back, or is it the body?” Harry wanted to know, twisting the ring around her finger. 

“Why do you want to know?” Jack asked.

“Because I’ve brought back the dead before.”

Her words were met with silence. 

“How did you do that?” Jack asked sharply.

“I had a connection with something. A stone that called peoples’ spirits back from the other side. I used it once. I wanted to know what dying felt like,” Harry found herself recounting. 

“Why did you want to know that?” Tosh asked from her desk.

“Because I was on my way to die.” 

No one said anything, but Jack held out the gauntlet to her. Harry slid the thing on her hand, noting how cold it felt, pressed against her skin. 

“I guess you managed to avoid it,” Owen finally said as Harry moved near the body. Harry allowed her eyes to drift up to him, giving him a serious look. 

“On the contrary. I had a good death.” 

She moved the gauntlet under the head of the body in front of her. Alex, they’d called him. He’d been killed. Violently. Before his time. Surely there was something his spirit wanted to communicate. 

On her other hand, she felt the resurrection stone heat slightly, just as the Resurrection gauntlet warmed up as well. 

On the table, Alex gasped. Ianto started a stopwatch, eyes glued to Alex Arwyn. 

“Somebody help me! Oh, my god! Help me, help me, help me!” he shouted frantically.

“Alex, I need you to listen to me,” Jack tried, but Alex ignored him as he continued to call for help.

“We’re trying to help you, now calm bloody down!” Harry snapped at the man. The man was stunned into silence with her words. 

“Who are you?” Alex asked. 

“How long?” Jack demanded.

“Fifteen seconds,” Ianto responded, as Alex repeated the question.

“We’re just some people, trying to get you justice for your death,” Harry said when no one else responded. 

“I just…I want my mum. Please, let me see my mum,” he said. 

“Alex, can you do me a favor? Do you remember who attacked you? We want to make sure your mum’s safe,” Harry tried.

The others were silent in the room. 

“I…I didn’t see him. He wasn’t…he attacked from behind,” Alex babbled.

“Did he say anything? Anything about who could have possibly done it?” Harry pressed.

“He sounded familiar. He was saying something. I heard the mumbling before he attacked me,” Alex said, his voice more subdued now, “Can you do that? Can you protect my Mum?”

Harry nodded firmly.

“Of course we can. Your mum will be safe. Now, can you tell us if anyone wanted you dead? Get into any arguments lately?” she asked. She glanced up, only to see the others all staring intently at her. 

“No. None,” Alex said. 

Harry felt a slight tug. She frowned. 

And then a harder tug. She flinched. 

“Let him go,” Jack ordered. 

“We were…” Harry stopped as the tug got worse. She pulled back from Alex and, although she felt his spirit still hovering, she dismissed it. 

“Two minutes, ten seconds,” Ianto said quietly. 

“I thought you said it only worked for two minutes?” Gwen pointed out, giving Harry a suspicious look. 

“It did for Suzie, anyway. You appear to be a natural,” Jack said coolly. 

“What can I say? Death and I go way back,” Harry murmured, slipping the gauntlet off and setting it next to the body. 

“You’re a natural at that,” Ianto murmured.

“Give Ianto a stopwatch and he’s happy,” Owen retorted snidely.

“Did I do what I was supposed to?” Harry wanted to know.

“I’d say so. That and more,” Jack said simply. 

Harry shuddered. 

“When do the other bodies get here?” Owen asked.

“In a couple hours,” Jack informed him. 

“What should we do before that?” Tosh wanted to know.

“We have a couple hours. Why don’t we go meet the Holmes family,” Jack said. 

“What?” Harry asked, back stiffening. 

“You never wanted to meet my boyfriend,” Gwen protested as well.

“Your boyfriend isn’t from another dimension, sweetheart,” Owen shot back at her snidely. 

“Lead the way,” Jack said, motioning for Harry to leave the area.

 

****

By the time they pulled up at Harry’s house, Harry had had plenty of time to run through all sorts of scenarios. Few of them ended well. 

And few of them ended with her returning to Torchwood. 

She hated to say it, but she liked the idea of adventure again. She thrived at the mere thought of it. 

She pulled out her keys from her pocket and unlocked the door.

“I’m home!” Harry shouted, “And I have guests!” 

There was a flurry of feet upstairs. Mrs. Hudson came in from the kitchen.

“Harry dear! Sherlock told me you’d been out. I didn’t expect you so soon, or I’d have prepared a spot of lunch for you,” she said. She hadn’t seen the others. 

“It’s all fine. Mother, these are my new….colleagues. Jack, Tosh, Owen, Gwen, and Ianto,” Harry said. Mrs. Hudson’s widened at her words.

“Oh dear. A new job already?” Mrs. Hudson tutted. Harry threw up her hands in defense.

“It wasn’t my fault!” Harry tried, but Mrs. Hudson was already walking away. 

“Your husband’s upstairs. I told him he couldn’t run experiments, not in my kitchen,” she said. 

“He’s still…with Theo?” Harry protested. 

“There was a foul odor earlier coming from his half-kitchen on the next floor,” Mrs. Hudson supplied.

Harry flew up the stairs two at a time, the others following her quickly. 

She stormed into the room, eyes narrowed. 

Of course, there were no experiments out. Both Sherlock and Theo were sitting at the table, each holding a book calmly before them.

“And the fourth word there on the second paragraph is hemoglobin. Do you remember what hemoglobin is?” Sherlock asked Theo with a straight face. Harry snatched the book from Theo, examined the page, and set it down on the table before scooping Theo up and placing him on her hip. 

“Can’t you teach him something normal?” Harry demanded. 

“We’re learning about the human body,” Sherlock said simply.

“You’ve already been told on. I told you, no more experiments with Theo,” Harry reminded him. 

“It was only a small one. I was bored,” Sherlock pointed out with a pout. He then turned his attention to the newcomers. 

“Are these the kidnappers?” he asked, staring at them.

“You should know. We know all about how we’ve already been drugged to forget our first encounter,” Jack said firmly. 

“Do you now? Fascinating. I’ll have to create a stronger formula,” Sherlock said.

“No. No creating,” Harry protested. She turned to the others.

“This is my husband, William Holmes, and our son, Theo Holmes. William, this is Jack, Tosh, Owen, Gwen, and Ianto. I guess I work with them now,” Harry said sheepishly.

“Danger level?” he asked. 

“Relatively normal,” Harry said with a shrug.

“Highly dangerous,” Jack amended.

“So relatively normal,” Sherlock agreed with Harry.

“Harry’s mother called you Sherlock,” Jack observed. 

“Pet name. They all call me Sherlock. It has something to do with sentiment,” Sherlock said, waving it off.

“It’s his attitude. We arrived here and discovered the novels and thought them to be so accurate of his personality that we couldn’t resist calling him that,” Harry said. 

“John won’t be happy. About the new job,” Sherlock interjected. 

“I don’t suspect he will be. He’ll probably be jealous that my job’s more entertaining than his,” Harry pointed out. 

“Give us time. I can start a detective agency here,” Sherlock pointed out.

“Don’t you dare,” Harry threatened. 

“Why not?” Sherlock responded. 

“It’ll get us in trouble! You know better,” Harry shot back. 

Their argument was interrupted by a groan in the next room. Harry froze. 

“Is he getting any better?” Harry asked, her voice low. She crept towards the door, only for Sherlock to stop her. 

“You know what your father said. Leave the door closed. Leave him alone. The more we disturb him, the less likely he is to pull out,” Sherlock reprimanded him.

Harry had to bite back her retort.

“Who?” Owen asked, moving closer.

“My uncle Sid. He’s….well, he didn’t take the journey well. Dad doesn’t think he’ll survive, but Dad’s been wrong a lot in the past,” Harry said. 

Sherlock didn’t disagree with her. 

“Your wife informed us that you all come from an alternate dimension, through the rift.” Jack said, cutting right to the chase. 

“Are you entering your second century, or third? I can’t quite tell from the wrinkles around your eyes,” Sherlock shot right back. 

“Do you mean decade?” Jack asked.

“You know exactly what I mean,” Sherlock said, levelling him a hard stare.

“I told you. He’s like Sherlock Holmes in your books,” Harry pointed out.

“Those books are excessively dull,” Sherlock complained.

“I’m sure John could write better, should you give him time,” Harry said, patting Sherlock on the shoulder lightly in consolation. Sherlock turned to Ianto, ready to cut into him.

“No. Remember what I said. You can’t go deducing people immediately. It scares people off and alerts them to the fact that we are different,” Harry scolded. Theo giggled in her arms at the sight of Sherlock being chewed out.

Theo seemed to enjoy watching anyone other than him get in trouble.

“Not even a little bit?” Sherlock begged.

“I am rather curious to see what he can figure out,” Gwen said, her voice a challenge. 

“Dull. You sleep with more people than everyone in this room combined,” Sherlock said, waving her off.

“Excuse me? I have a boyfriend,” Gwen announced. 

“You aren’t faithful. It’s so apparent it’s painful. And your latest target is your leader. I don’t think he’s interested in you. His eyes are on the bloke with the stopwatch peeking out of his pocket,” Sherlock said, turning from them to pick the books up.

“Please put those back in John’s room before he gets home,” Harry begged.

“What makes you think they came from John’s room?” Sherlock asked her, not bothering to turn round.

“They’re from his third shelf of the dark brown bookshelf,” Harry said drily.

“Very good. You’re improving,” Sherlock told her, flashing her an over—the-top fake grin. 

“I will make you sleep on the couch,” Harry warned. Sherlock waved her off. 

“What did the two of you do, back in your universe?” Gwen asked, butting into their conversation. 

“Consulting detective,” Sherlock said simply.

“Hence the similarities to Sherlock Holmes,” Harry said. Sherlock gave her a look, which Harry ignored.

“And you? What did you do?” Gwen asked. Her words were spiteful. She was looking to find something to pin on Harry. 

She just didn’t like Harry. 

“She was my wife,” Sherlock stated, narrowing his eyes on Gwen.

“Yeah, but surely she had a job,” Gwen pointed out.

“She was raising my son,” Sherlock added. 

“So you didn’t have a job,” Gwen said snidely. Harry opened her mouth to give her a piece of her mind, to tell her exactly why she wasn’t able to work – and abruptly closed it. She couldn’t give that sort of thing away. It’d make them suspicious. 

“And before? Before you got married and had a son?” Jack finally asked, waiting for an answer. 

“I’m not that old,” Harry said. 

Jack didn’t look too pleased. 

“I’m twenty-one. Theo’s three. Do the math,” Harry said coldly. 

Ianto pulled out his phone and frowned.

“Bodies have been delivered,” Ianto said. Sherlock perked up at his words.

“Bodies?” he asked.

“No,” Harry immediately said. He didn’t appear too displeased at her rejection. Harry sat Theo down and followed as the team headed back towards the door. 

They were halfway there when Sherlock spoke up once more.

“I finished the first book.”

His words stopped her cold in her tracks. Harry glanced over her shoulder at Sherlock, who had scooped Theo up and placed him on his own hip. 

“I didn’t know you were planning on reading them.” 

Sherlock gave her a searching look before sighing. 

“I knew there was abuse. I could tell the moment I met you. But…” he drifted off. 

“It was a lifetime ago,” Harry told him. 

“My brother will destroy them,” Sherlock told her. 

Harry gave him a sad smile and followed the team out of the room.


	3. They Keep Killing Suzie

“What was he talking about?”

It was unsurprising that Gwen would ask that question the moment they left the room. Harry didn’t answer, instead walking as the others were doing back to the van. It wasn’t until they got to the van that Jack spun in the passenger seat, pinning her with a glare. 

“Twenty-one. Your ID says twenty-five,” he accused. 

“And it would. You’ve seen how much older Sh…William is than me. He’s thirty-three. We wanted to be as inconspicuous as possible. We weren’t sure of the age of consent here, but we figured it would look suspicious with such an age gap,” Harry pointed out.

“Doesn’t anyone else want to know what he was talking about with the book and abuse and his brother?” Gwen interrupted angrily. 

“It appears that William found one of my old diaries. I had them with me. I grew up with my relatives, and they had no love to spare for me,” Harry stated, keeping her voice level. 

“I don’t know how we managed to agree to let a twenty-one-year-old work for us,” Jack complained.

“I was twenty when I started at Torchwood One,” Ianto supplied, his voice low.

“Does this mean I’m still working with you?” Harry asked hopefully. 

“I’d rather have you under my thumb until I know what you’re capable of. Plus you seem to make the glove work,” Jack pointed out. 

Harry shivered at the thought. 

“He mentioned abuse though. If you’ve been abused, and you’re only twenty-one….you didn’t escape, did you? He had to take you from the situation,” Owen stated. 

“I’ve only seen my relatives once since I was seventeen,” Harry said. 

“Before we do anything with the bodies, I want to do a physical on her,” Owen said to Jack.

“What? I’m fine,” Harry interrupted. 

“He’s right. We need to make sure you’re in the condition to be running about,” Tosh pointed out. 

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Harry demanded. Jack gave her a level stare.

“For starters, malnutrition. Broken bones, unhealed injuries. Pregnancy. Considering you are married,” Jack said giving her a one-over. 

“I’m not pregnant,” Harry said. 

“Oh?” Jack asked.

She wasn’t. She could have told him that. 

But she was scared as to what his test would show. 

She was silent the rest of the way back to the headquarters. 

 

When they got there, Ianto, Tosh and Gwen got to work bringing the bodies down while Jack and Owen took Harry to the medical area to check her out. Harry was glad that this time, she wasn’t covered in injuries. 

Only the scars. 

Scars that had both men frowning as they examined her.

“How old are these?” Owen asked. 

“Old enough. I can’t remember,” Harry said with a shrug.

“You don’t remember how old you were when you were injured this badly?” Owen asked in disbelief. 

“Remove your shirt altogether,” Jack ordered.

“No,” Harry said flatly. 

“Yes,” Jack said. Harry gave him a glare and pulled her shirt off. Jack and Owen became silent at the sight of her scar-riddled back.

“Okay. I guess I can understand your lack of memory,” Owen said quietly. 

“Can I put my shirt back on?” Harry asked them.

“Any new injuries?” Owen asked her.

“Nope,” she said immediately. Owen nodded and pulled out a scanner. 

“Place your hand on this. It’ll check everything for us,” he said.

“What sort of everything?” Harry asked suspiciously.

“It’ll give us anything that may be poisoning you in your body. Any intrusions. Any injuries. All that,” Owen said as he grabbed her hand and placed it on the scanner. He held it there for a minute, two minutes, three minutes until the computer beeped at him. He moved over to it quickly, eyes scanning the screen.

“There’s some sort of toxin in your body. We can’t identify it. It has a strong concentration in your arm,” Owen said. 

“Then there should be two. Two foreign substances in that area,” Harry corrected him. Owen scanned the computer once more and nodded.

“Yeah. What is it?” 

“One of them is venom. I was attacked by a snake about nine years ago now. Deadly. The second was a cure – a way of neutralizing it, I’d say, considering that it really couldn’t be destroyed,” Harry tried explaining. 

Owen was still quiet. 

“Jack, put your hand on there. Now,” Owen ordered. Harry pulled her hand back and allowed Jack to take her place. It was a shorter wait before Owen cursed. 

“Your cells aren’t aging,” Owen said. 

“Pardon?” 

“You aren’t aging. Your body isn’t. Anything you got into that could make you immortal?” Owen asked. 

Harry was silent.

“Not that I can think of,” she said slowly. And she couldn’t. She’d need more time to think it over to figure it out. 

“Why did you need Jack to be scanned before you could figure that out?” Harry asked. 

“To see what a normal person’s looks like,” Jack interjected quickly before Owen could even open his mouth. Harry nodded slowly, mulling over their words.

“Are we good to move on to the bodies?” Harry asked, trying to swiftly change the subject.

“Speaking of bodies. You weren’t lying when you’d said you’d died. There’s proof of that here. Twice. So you’ve come back to life twice?” Owen asked. Jack was also staring at her. 

“The first time I was a baby. I didn’t really die. I just…miraculously lived. The second time, yeah, I came back,” Harry said, trying to downplay it. 

Owen was about to ask more questions when Gwen interrupted.

“We’ve got the bodies. Can we bring them down?” she asked. Jack tore his eyes from Harry and gave Gwen a sharp nod. Owen changed the computer screen and Jack pulled Harry to the side, allowing the other three to pull the bodies down in their bags. 

Tosh made her way back to her desk as Ianto settled the body and pulled out his stopwatch. Jack retrieved the glove once more and handed it to Harry. 

“Which would you like to start with?” Jack asked her.

“Mark. I…I can’t talk to Sarah,” Harry said, her voice small. 

“You might have to, if Mark doesn’t know,” Jack reminded her gently. 

“Recording. Victim number two, Mark Brisco,” Tosh called from her desk. Harry stood over Mark’s body, placing the glove under his head. 

Once more, the glove and her resurrection ring heated up. And she felt a pull of energy. 

“Oh Mer…God, it’s like it’s stealing the energy from me,” Harry said in horror as Mark opened his eyes.

“Hey there. Just look at me. Look me in the eye. That’s all,” Jack said, his voice soothing.

“Where am I?” Mark asked, glancing around. His eyes landed on Harry, above him.

“You’ve been hurt. We don’t have long. We need to know who attacked you,” Jack said. 

“Is my wife alright?” he asked, staring directly at Harry.

“She’ll be fine. We scared him off. But we need to know who attacked you. So we can protect her,” Harry said. 

“It was that man. He belonged to Pilgrim. He went to Pilgrim,” Mark said.

“What’s Pilgrim?” Jack asked sharply.

“Oh my God, he had a knife,” Mark said faintly.

“No, Mark, he’s gone. We don’t have long. Quickly, what was his name?” Jack demanded. 

“Thirty-five seconds,” Ianto called. The glove tugged another stream of energy from her. 

“Max. Never knew his surname,” Mark said.

“Trying Pilgrim and Max. Get a description,” Tosh ordered from her desk.

“You’ve got to give us something more so we can catch him,” Jack said.

“How are you holding up?” Owen asked Harry. 

“It’s harder. More energy,” Harry said bluntly, biting her lip. 

“There was, there was someone who knew him better. That woman. She was always talking to him,” Mark said.

“What was her name?” Jack asked.

“Where’s my wife?”

“At my house. With William. What was her name?” Harry repeated, glancing back up at Jack.

“Suzie. Her name was Suzie,” Mark said. 

“I can’t hold on much longer this time,” Harry warned.

“Suzie what? What was her last name?” Jack demanded, his face ashen. 

“I don’t know. It started with a C. My wife knows her. She ran the group. Pilgrim. Ask her. I…” Mark drifted off as Harry gasped. 

“Are you okay?” Mark asked, staring up at Harry.

“Bit weak. I can’t do it much longer,” Harry warned. 

“So your wife knows who it is?” Jack asked. 

“Yeah. She should,” Mark said as Harry pulled away from him, ripping the glove from her hand. She dropped it on the ground and nearly fell backwards, trying to brace herself. 

Ianto wrapped an arm around her waist, helping her up into a seat. 

“Two minutes, twenty seconds,” Ianto murmured. 

“Jack? Did I hear that right?” Tosh asked quietly.

“Could be anyone. Must be lots of women called Suzie,” Owen said uneasily. 

“Not connected to this case. Suzie C. We’ve been talking to the wrong corpse,” Jack said darkly. Owen moved to Harry, quickly taking her pulse and scanning her once more.

“Jack, we need to wait a bit. Before the next one. She’s…weak,” Owen said. Jack looked surprised.

“It didn’t take so much out of Suzie,” Jack noted.

“She is holding them longer. And they seem calmer,” Ianto pointed out. 

“True. Tosh, Gwen, go back to their house. Search for anything on Pilgrim. Owen, make sure Harry’s fine. Ianto, take up the online search,” Jack ordered. The group disbursed once more.

 

*****

 

It was about two hours later when everyone met up once more. Harry had to be roused from a nap she’d fallen into, so she stumbled into the office bleary-eyed. 

Tosh was already handing out papers by the time Harry made it to her seat. 

“Pilgrim. A religious support group, more like a debating society. Meaning of life, does God exist, all that stuff. The point is, it was tiny, more like a hobby, run by Mark Brisco’s wife, Sarah. She had all that stashed in the wardrobe. Handwritten and photocopied. That’s why we couldn’t find any records. She wasn’t even online,” Tosh explained.

“Did you ever hear anything about this?” Jack asked Harry.

“She asked me if I believed in God at one point. I told her I wasn’t sure, but she was called somewhere else before she could respond,” Harry recounted.

“No mention of Suzie or Max?” Jack wanted to know.

“Not a word. She didn’t even keep a register,” Tosh said. 

Harry bit her lip. That didn’t sound like Sarah. 

“It wouldn’t be our Suzie, though. She wouldn’t go to that support group bollocks,” Owen protested. 

“How do you know? I mean, were you friends? Any of you? Who was her best friend in this place?” Gwen asked.

“She sort of kept to herself,” Owen said quietly. Tosh and Ianto were staring at the ground.

“I’m sorry, but who was Suzie?” Harry asked.

“She used to work here. She went rogue and started killing people to make the glove work. She…died,” Jack said carefully.

“If she needed to talk, maybe that’s exactly where she’d go. A group of complete strangers,” Gwen continued, looking triumphant at her conclusion. 

“Could be. You’ve got a point, Gwen. Time we got to know our deceased colleague a little bit better,” Jack said, standing. 

“What time is it getting to be?” Harry asked as they made their way to the van. 

“Seven. Why?” Ianto asked, glancing at his watch.

“Can I borrow someone’s mobile? I really need to start carrying mine,” Harry muttered the last part to herself. Ianto wordlessly handed his phone to her. 

“Letting the hubby know what’s going on?” Jack asked, eyes one her. 

“No. I’m letting my family know I’m still at work. They worry. With good reason,” Harry explained. 

“Sound a bit overprotective. Sure you’re up for the job?” Gwen asked bitingly. 

“They aren’t overprotective. I was kidnapped, right before we entered this world. And then attacked by the fairies,” Harry pointed out. 

“Call him,” Jack ordered. Harry quickly dialed Sherlock’s number as she got in the car.

“You’re late.” 

Harry glanced up, scanning the area for CCTV. When her eyes landed on the camera, she waved. 

“What are you doing?” Gwen asked her as she climbed into the van.

“My husband’s hacked CCTV. Again,” Harry said, not bothering to cover the phone. 

“Looks like it’ll be a long night,” Harry said. 

“Severus is not happy with you.”

“No, I doubted he would be. Is he cursing about how stupid I am again?” Harry asked. 

“He broke the toaster. Right after Theo and I put it back together.”

“Can you tell John I got a job? If I dare call him, he’ll never let me go until he knows all the details and has my location so he can show up guns blazing,” Harry said.

“I already told him. He’s grouchy too,” Sherlock said. Harry could hear the smile in his voice. 

“Is Theo doing okay?” Harry wanted to know.

“He’s doing fine. Severus agreed to teach him a potion and he hasn’t asked where you are yet,” Sherlock said. 

“Good. If he does, tell him I love him and will see him soon,” Harry said softly. 

Sherlock was silent for a moment. 

“I’ll still be on CCTV.”

“I wouldn’t expect you to do anything else. I’ll see you later?” Harry asked. 

Sherlock was silent once more. Waiting for something. 

“I love you,” Harry said tentatively. 

“Quite right, too,” Sherlock immediately responded. Harry’s lips twisted into a smile. 

“Bye,” she said, hanging up. She handed the phone back to Ianto, who tucked it into his pocket. 

“Sounds like an interesting character,” Jack said. The others were all silent as well. Listening to her conversation. 

“You did meet him,” Harry pointed out. 

“What was with that, ‘quite right too’?” Owen asked from the driver’s seat. 

“He’s not big on sentiment. He would freeze when I told him I loved him. He’s not accustomed to emotions,” Harry said with a shrug.

“Sounds like a fun marriage,” Jack noted. 

“I wouldn’t have him any other way,” Harry said with a fond smile. 

“If Rhys ever acted like that, I’d break up with him,” Gwen said scathingly.

“If my husband acted lovesick, I wouldn’t know what to do. I didn’t grow up understanding many emotions either. Love’s new for me as well,” Harry said. 

“Why didn’t you grow up with love?” Tosh wanted to know. 

“My parents died when I was small and my relatives hated me. I grew up knowing how to be hated, not loved. I didn’t really understand love at all – I still barely do. I couldn’t have found a more perfect man for myself,” Harry explained as they pulled up to a storage unit facility. It had started to rain on the way over and the sky was fully dark now. 

They all climbed out of the van and headed towards a storage unit Jack opened with a key.

“Have I got this right? When I die, you get to keep all my possessions? My whole life’s gonna get stashed in a locker?” Gwen demanded.

“Rules and regulations,” Jack stated.

“What if I leave all my stuff to Rhys?” Gwen asked.

“We’ll stash him away, too,” Jacks aid as he pulled the unit door upwards.

“You’ll have to fight my family for my belongings. They are rather possessive,” Harry noted.

“Sounds like a challenge,” Jack said with a wide grin. The grin faded as he stared into the unit.

“Tread carefully, people. With respect. This is the life of Suzie Costello,” Jack said. 

Each of them took a different box and opened it.

“That’s all we are, in the end. A pile of boxes,” Tosh said quietly from next to Harry. 

“Is her father still alive?” Gwen asked from the other side of Tosh. Harry opened her box and peeked inside. Planner. She opened it carefully, leafing through the pages.

“Don’t know,” Tosh said shortly.

“But you must’ve looked him up to tell him his daughter was dead,” Gwen protested.

“When Suzie left Torchwood, she was on the run. She wiped all her records. I couldn’t retrieve her files. She was good at computers. Huh. She was good at everything,” Tosh said with a small laugh. 

“She was good at murder, too. Laugh a minute, that was Suzie,” Owen said bitterly.

Harry stopped on a page. Pilgrim was penciled in.

“What’s that?” Gwen asked Jack.

“A book. Emily Dickenson, poet,” Jack said. 

“I think I found something,” Harry said.

“Me too. Pilgrim flier,” Tosh said grimly.

“And it’s penciled in her planner,” Harry added.

“She is a part of it,” Tosh agreed.

“That proves it then. No choice. It’s time Suzie came back,” Jack said grimly. 

Everyone was silent the way back. By the time they made it to the Autopsy room in the headquarters, no one would look at each other. Jack immediately started pushing buttons, pulling a body from a chamber.

“Do we all get frozen? Torchwood staff. When we die, do we all get kept?” Gwen asked. 

“Rules and regulations,” Jack agreed.

“I need to examine these rules,” Harry murmured.

“You probably do,” Jack agreed.

“How long for?” Gwen continued. 

“Forever,” Jack said simply. 

“Recording,” Tosh called out.

“Have you got your stopwatch?” Owen asked Ianto. 

“Always,” Ianto said. When he caught Harry’s eye, he winked at her. 

“I’ll record from my station. I’m sorry, but I don’t want to look her in the eye. Sorry,” Tosh said as she hurried up the stairs and out of sight.

“Anyone else?” Jack asked, staring around the group. No one else moved, although Owen was carefully staring at the computer and not Suzie’s body.

Harry slid the glove on carefully and placed her hand under Suzie’s head. 

It was cold. Very cold. 

Harry closed her eyes, focusing on Suzie. But there was nothing there. 

She was too far dead.

“I’m not getting any readings,” Owen pointed out. Harry bit her lip and pushed farther. It was like she was pushing through a void, trying to grasp something slippery. 

“She’s too far gone,” Harry murmured, removing her hand. She considered using the Resurrection Stone, but didn’t want to reveal that yet. It was too soon.

“What do we do now?” Tosh called out.

“Nothing we can do. That’s it. We’re out of options,” Jack said, disappointed.

“There’s always the knife,” Owen interrupted. Everyone turned to him.

“When she killed all those people, she always used the knife. It’s made out of the same metal as the glove,” Owen pointed out.

“We’ve seen it before,” Tosh agreed, “Metallic resonance, like the glove works better if the knife’s part of the process, like closing a circuit. 

“Then let’s use it,” Gwen said abruptly.

“Small detail. The knife was used to kill people. Suzie’s already dead,” Jack said.

“All right, so we kill her again,” Gwen said. Jack stared at her before nodding, heading back to his office. The others all followed him into the office, leaving Harry standing there. She stared down at Suzie’s body, wishing she knew the whole story. What all had happened.

They came back, carrying an odd looking knife. Jack moved to Suzie’s side and cut her arm with the knife. Harry moved her glove under Suzie’s head. 

“Anything?” Jack asked. Harry pushed forward, feeling. She felt something, but it wasn’t the true feeling.

“Just a sort of spark,” Harry said, frowning. 

“You’re going to have to do it properly,” Gwen piped up. Owen nodded in agreement. Jack glanced at them before moving slightly.

“What the hell,” he said before plunging the knife directly into her chest.

The sudden pull of Suzie’s spirit returning nearly knocked Harry out. She stumbled forward, using her other hand to steady herself as Suzie inhaled sharply. 

“Suzie? Listen!” Jack ordered. Harry had a hard time steadying her breath. It hadn’t even taken a piece of the Resurrection stone, to bring Suzie back. The others had taken the Resurrection stone. Harry felt weaker. Uneasy. 

“I’ve got to go. I can’t stay. They know. They know,” Suzie muttered frantically.

“Just look at where you are. Think back. Try to remember, Suzie. Suzie! Look at me!” Jack ordered angrily. Suzie’s eyes landed firmly on Jack.

“Jack. Oh my God. There’s a knife in my chest. Did you kill me?” she asked as her eyes caught sight of the knife.

“You killed yourself, remember?” Jack pointed out, his voice cold. 

“But…oh my God. I shot myself,” Suzie realized.

“We’ve got to ask you about Pilgrim,” Jack told her. Harry felt another sudden pull of energy from her. She tried resisting, but it forced the energy from her. 

“No, wait a minute. Didn’t I kill you?” Suzie asked, staring critically at Jack.

“Never mind that. We need names and details,” Jack ordered.

“Who’s using the glove?” Suzie asked.

“New girl. First day,” Jack said. Suzie glanced upward, eyes meeting Harry’s. 

Harry’s head started to ache. 

“I’m surprised it wasn’t Gwen Bloody Cooper,” Suzie spat.

“Oi!” Gwen shouted at her.

“Thirty seconds,” Ianto said.

“When you were in Pilgrim, you gave the amnesia pill to a man, Max. Do you remember?” Jack asked.

“What? You brought me all the way back just for Max?” Suzie asked in disbelief.

“We need to find him. Who is he? What’s his surname?” Jack demanded.

“He was just some loser,” Suzie dismissed.

“We’re losing her,” Owen said.

“Harry, hold on,” Jack ordered. Harry bit her lip. The pull was getting stronger. 

“Don’t force it,” Jack warned her. Harry was about to tell him she was losing Suzie when she felt a backfire of the energy. It threw her backwards, slamming her into a wall. The pain in her head increased. Her vision temporarily went out, but she was still conscious.

Someone grabbed her wrist. 

“It’s all right. I’ve got her. Right, here we go. Hold on,” Owen said, propping her up.

“Okay. Pulse. Yes, she’s all right,” Owen called out. Harry blinked, her vision slowly coming back.

“It’s the glove. I told you, they get hooked,” Jack said angrily. 

“All right, don’t make a fuss. It’s over now,” Owen protested

“Er, excuse me? I’m still counting,” Ianto interrupted. Harry’s eyes went straight to Suzie’s body. 

No.

Her chest was rising and falling steadily.

“There’s no point. Suzie’s dead,” Jack dismissed, helping Harry to her feet.

“Um, no. According to the equipment, she’s just unconscious,” Ianto pointed out.

Jack left Harry’s side and ran off to the computer.

“What the hell’s going on?” Jack demanded.

“Oh my God. He’s right. She’s alive. Suzie’s still alive. Look at her, she’s bloody breathing,” Owen said in disbelief.

“She can’t be!” Jack protested, ripping the knife from her chest.

“No. Still breathing, no stopping her. She won’t die. One minute thirty and counting,” Owen said in disbelief.

Jack spun on her.

“What did you do?” he demanded.

“I didn’t do anything! It was the glove. It…it stole energy from me. I tried breaking the connection,” Harry protested, her voice cracking.

“Jack, she’s injured. I think she needs to go home for the night,” Owen recommended.

“We need to figure out what’s going on,” Jack protested.

“We do, but we need her healthy. It’s her first day, Jack,” Owen protested. Jack opened his mouth and closed it once more.

“Ianto, bring her home. Come back in the morning, okay?” Jack asked her.

“I will,” Harry said, her throat hurting. 

And her eyes slid shut.


	4. Suzie Alive

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I went ahead and posted the first chapter of A House of Pomegranates, which is what is happening in the original universe. If you aren't following/can't follow this, feel free to keep up with that one! It'll stick to the Sherlock/Harry Potter Universe. 
> 
> Otherwise, feel free to read both! There won't be incredibly frequent updates to either, but I am still working on both simultaneously, as well as my other two fanfictions from fanfiction.net. And my own original works.
> 
> So enjoy!

When Harry opened her eyes again, Ianto was carrying her up to her doorstep.

“Set me on my feet. John will go off if he thinks I was injured first day of work,” Harry said, struggling to get down.

“Too late,” John’s voice said. Harry glanced up to see John looking highly displeased, staring at them.

“John. I’m fine,” Harry protested, staring at him. John’s arms were crossed and his jaw was tight.

“You’re not fine, Harry. Not even a little bit. It’s midnight. You’re never out this late. You get a new job and you can’t even walk home on your own? No. You don’t need to be working there. It’s too dangerous,” John decided.

“So you won’t be working with Sherlock when he starts up his detective business again?” Harry shot at him.

“That’s different.” 

“It is,” Sherlock interjected from the door, “Because John thinks he can take care of himself, and doesn’t think you can take care of yourself. Come in,” Sherlock said, stepping to the side. Ianto, still carrying Harry, entered the house. They made it to the living room, where everyone was there, waiting. Even Theo was there- although he was asleep in Mrs. Hudson’s arms. 

None of them looked too happy.

“Set me down,” Harry ordered. Ianto did so, but Harry swayed the moment her feet landed on the ground. He steadied her once more, only for Sherlock to take over and lead her over to a seat. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Ianto said, but John blocked the exit. 

“No. You stay. Until we’ve finished this talk,” John ordered. 

“Dear, you’re overreacting,” Mary told John, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“Overreacting? Harry is danger prone. She’s always nearly getting herself killed. And you want to let her work somewhere dangerous?” John shouted at his fiancé.

“You know she’s not going to be happy unless she’s in danger,” Mary told him gently. 

“None of us are,” Severus said softly.

“I am,” Mrs. Hudson piped up.

 

“Mrs. Hudson, do keep up. You said just yesterday it was quite lonesome here, without all the sketchy characters coming and going,” Sherlock pointed out. 

“Well, it is,” Mrs. Hudson tried defending herself. 

“We all need to settle in here. This is Harry’s way of settling in,” Mary said, trying to calm them down.

There was a groan upstairs, and a light thud. Harry lurched to her feet, swaying wildly as she hurried for the stairs.

“Sit back down. There’s no improvement,” Severus told her sharply.

“But he,” Harry tried, only for Sherlock to place her back in the seat.

“He does that quite frequently. We didn’t want to you to know,” John told her, his voice distant.

Harry glanced at the others, eyes landing on Ianto. She’d all but forgotten he was there. 

He was watching her with critical eyes. 

“Ianto, this is the rest of my family,” Harry started to introduce. But Ianto interrupted her.

“I gathered. Sherlock Holmes, John Watson, Mary Morstan, and Mrs. Hudson,” Ianto said, nodding to each in turn. He then turned to Severus. 

“If she’s Harry Potter, then you have to be Severus Snape,” he concluded. 

Everyone was silent. 

“Excuse me?” Harry asked, her voice quivering. 

“You call him Sherlock. He calls her Mrs. Hudson. You all call him John. So he must be John Watson, and John Watson was engaged and married to a Mary Morstan, in the books,” Ianto said. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” John said, trying to bluff his way out of it.

“I’ve had my suspicious since this afternoon. When Sherlock said he’d read the first book. The mention of abuse. It all fit. Harry Potter. And your appearance is more Severus Snape than anyone I’ve ever seen. The only ones I’ve yet to uncover the identity for is the mysterious person upstairs and the child,” Ianto explained.

“You can’t tell anyone,” Harry begged, her eyelids drooping. 

“Jack ought to know,” Ianto said.

“If I tell you who the others are, will you not tell Jack?” Harry pleaded.

Ianto was silent for a moment. 

“On one condition,” Ianto finally said.

“What is it?” Sherlock asked tersely.

“I enjoyed both book series. I will keep the secret, so long as you answer any questions I have,” Ianto said. 

“We can do that,” Harry told him. 

“Good. Who’s the child?” Ianto wanted to know.

“He was born Teddy Lupin,” Harry said. Ianto shook his head. 

“Lupin. Any relations to Remus Lupin?” Ianto asked.

“His son,” Harry said, feeling her throat closing. Ianto nodded. 

“The last book has yet to come out, here. It should be coming out next year,” Ianto explained. 

“The last book?” Harry asked.

“Each one covers a year. We have up until your sixth year at Hogwarts. I don’t understand, though, given what I know, how you and Severus are close,” Ianto said.

“The last book. During the final battle. We…I discovered some truths,” Harry faltered slightly. 

“Do you still have magic here?” he wanted to know.

“I do. Yes,” Harry agreed. Ianto silently regarded her. 

“Is that how you made the resurrection gauntlet work?” Ianto wanted to know. 

“Can I tell you that later? I…I don’t feel so hot,” Harry said. Sherlock placed a hand on her forehead and frowned.

“She’s burning up,” Sherlock said. 

“We can talk another time. I’ll see you at work tomorrow?” Ianto asked her. 

 

“If she’s better, yes,” Sherlock agreed.

“One last question,” Ianto began, staring at them, “Who’s upstairs?”

“My godfather,” Harry told him, managing a weak smile. 

“Sirius Black?” Ianto gasped, eyes going wide.

“Sirius Black. We all came here through the Veil,” Harry explained as her eyelids drooped further. 

 

The next thing she knew, she was waking up. In her bed, in Sherlock’s arms, to sunlight streaming in the window. 

They never told her what time to come in. 

Still, Harry managed to pry herself from Sherlock’s arms, wincing at the headache she had. It was only growing, she realized. Her head hurt more now than it did last night.

“You don’t feel any better. Go back to bed,” Sherlock mumbled at her. 

“I’m fine,” Harry reassured him, slipping new clothes on. 

She still felt weak when she knocked on Severus’s door. He opened in a few minutes later, looking rather irate at being woken up. When he saw Harry, his expression softened slightly

“Do you have any Pepper-Up potion? I’m feeling rather tired, and I still have a headache,” Harry explained. Severus disappeared back in his room for another few minutes before stepping out with two potions.

“Here. These should help,” he said.

“Thanks,” Harry responded, automatically tipping the first potion and swallowing it in one gulp. The second followed, although the taste was much viler than the first. 

“Heading to work?” Severus asked her. Harry nodded. 

“Not today,” Sherlock interrupted, his voice still sleepy. He was standing in the doorway from their room. 

“Why not?” Harry asked.

“I’ve got somewhere to be. Everyone does. You need to watch Theo,” Sherlock said. Harry bit her lip.

“I’ll bring him with me,” Harry decided.

“That’s not a wise idea,” Severus said carefully. 

“It’ll be fine. Theo’s well-behaved,” Harry pointed out.

Both men regarded her critically. 

“Are you sure?” Sherlock finally asked.

“Positive. It’ll be fine,” Harry reassured them. 

“I’ll go get him ready then,” Sherlock said. 

 

It was nearly eleven when Harry finally made it to Torchwood, Theo in tow. She passed by Gwen pushing Suzie in a wheelchair to a van. 

She didn’t think anything of it. 

By the time she made it to the conference room, her head was pounding once more. 

“Harry!” Tosh said, leaping to her feet. 

“Sorry. I’ve had this major headache,” Harry admitted. Owen was scanning something on the screen, and Tosh was going over a file. Jack and Ianto weren’t in the room. 

“Why’s the kid here?” Owen asked, not looking up.

“No one else could watch him today. He’s better behaved than I am,” Harry informed them. She sat down next to Tosh.

“What did I miss?” she wanted to know.

“We found Max. Stopped him from killing another girl. Suzie helped identify who he was and saved Gwen’s life. We’ve got him downstairs in a cell. He’s in a very specific psychosis. Reacts specifically to the name Torchwood,” Tosh explained.

“We have a problem,” Own announced, pulling out his mobile.

“Yeah, Jack? You and Ianto need to get up here right now. It’s important,” Owen said. Barely a minute later, Jack and Ianto hurried into the room. Owen pulled something up on the big screen.

Footage. Of Harry resurrecting the others. 

“I was going over Suzie and Harry’s medical records. I ran them through the philemon filter. Watch the footage,” Owen warned. He played the film, where it was mostly green with white light flowing around the Resurrection Gauntlet. 

“This is the moment when Harry brought back Mark Brisco, the husband. See? Now look at his death. See? The energy flow stops just as he’s about to die. But have a look at Harry with Suzie,” Owen said, shifting the images. 

The energy continued to flow straight from Harry into the knife and into Suzie. Harry felt incredibly uneasy. 

“Whoa,” Jack murmured.

“What is that?” Tosh demanded.

“Energy. Life. But with Suzie, it’s a permanent connection and she is getting stronger. It’s still going right now. She’s draining the life out of Harry,” Owen explained. 

“There’s always a price,” Jack murmured. Harry’s blood went cold. 

“Is that why I’ve had a headache?” Harry asked. Jack stood quickly, moving over to Harry. He tentatively started moving her hair around, only to stop suddenly.

“That’s exactly why. Because a bullet wound is starting to appear in your head,” Jack said. Harry gripped Theo tighter to her. 

“Then we need to go after Suzie and Gwen and bring them back,” Harry said.

“What do you mean? They’re in the interrogation room,” Jack said.

“No they’re not. I passed them when I entered. Gwen was helping Suzie into a van,” Harry said. 

Jack cursed and leapt to his feet. 

“Find them fast. We have to kill Suzie. Again. Or Harry’ll die,” Jack ordered. 

“Who’s going to kill her?” Owen asked quietly.

“I will. I’m the boss. Now find them!” Jack ordered anxiously.

“I told you. They’re leaving,” Harry repeated.

Tosh pulled up the footage to see them driving off.

“What’s she doing?” Owen asked in disbelief. 

“Getting herself fired,” Jack said angrily.

“Unbelievable,” Tosh murmured, staring at the screen.

“How stupid is that, thinking she could just drive off?” Owen asked.

“Come on, let’s go get them and bring them back,” Jack ordered, lurching for the door.

Just as the power went out and the doors locked suddenly.

“What the hell was that?” Jack demanded.

“We’ve gone into lockdown,” Ianto said, his voice flat. 

“Then reverse it!” Jack ordered. 

“I can’t. It’s a hundred percent. The doors are sealed. We’re locked in,” Ianto said simply. 

He was staring straight at Harry.

“Everything’s gone. Computers, mobile coverage, the lifts, everything. We’re sealed in,” Tosh said. Theo whimpered in Harry’s arms.

“How long does Harry have before she dies?” Jack asked Owen.

“Two hours, maybe less,” Owen said solemnly.

“Come on, think. If Suzie set up the lockdown, how did she do it?” Jack asked.

“Entered an overdrive?” Owen suggested.

“No, she’s officially dead. The computer wouldn’t give her access,” Tosh corrected him.

“Then how did she do it What the hell did she do?” Jack asked.

“She’s not the only person here though. Didn’t you say you had Max here?” Harry asked.

Jack’s eyes widened.

“Max!” he shouted, running off. The others followed, save Ianto who waited and helped Harry out of the chair. 

“Can you do something? To get out of here?” he asked. 

“Not without giving myself away. We can figure this out,” Harry promised.

“It’s your life on the line,” Ianto reminded her.

“It wouldn’t be the first time. Trust me,” Harry reminded him gently. 

“Where are we going?” Harry asked as they walked the way the others had run off. 

“Holding cells. You never got a proper tour of the place, did you?” Ianto asked.

“No. I didn’t,” Harry agreed. 

“After this, I’ll take you on a tour,” Ianto promised.

But his face looked anxious. As if he saw no way out of it.

“Mama,” Theo murmured, his fingers twining themselves through Harry’s hair. 

“It’s okay, Theo. Sh,” Harry whispered back to the child. It was like he could sense something was wrong. 

When they got to the cell, the others were staring at him.

“Is that a poem?” Owen was asking. The man Harry assumed was Max was reciting something as he rocked back and forth. 

“I wonder. Emily Dickinson?” Jack asked.

“But what does it mean?” Owen demanded.

“It’s a verbal trigger. Say it out loud, maybe repeat it a hundred times over and the Hub locks down,” Jack said angrily.

“But if that’s part of the system, Suzie must’ve installed a vocal command program way back,” Owen realized.

“Back when she was alive, yeah. Max is just a Trojan horse. Suzie planned this right from the start,” Jack said grimly. He turned on his heel and hurried down the hall. Owen, noticing Harry and Ianto, picked Theo up from Harry’s arms. 

“Carry her, mate. I’ll take the child,” Owen said. Theo all but hissed at Owen as he carried him, his eyes glued on Harry the entire time.

“I thought he was well-behaved,” Owen complained.

“He is. He just doesn’t like other people carrying him,” Harry said with a small smile.

They made it back to the main area, where Ianto deposited Harry gently onto the couch. Owen quickly sat Theo down next to her. 

“Do you see?” Jack was asking them, “Max, the retcon, everything. It’s all been a hoax to get us to resurrect Suzie.”

“She gave Max a whole complex of subconscious triggers,” Owen realized.

“Like, she dies, Max becomes a time bomb. He doesn’t see her for three months, and wham, she orders kick in. He follows Suzie’s program and starts killing,” Tosh said.

“And the whole chain of events forces us to bring Suzie back,” Jack said.

“And then she escapes,” Tosh said. 

“You’ve got to admit, that is not bad. I’m picking her for my team,” Owen said. 

“If she could lockdown the Hub, she must have installed a way of reversing it, just in case,” Tosh said. Jack nodded.

“Yeah,” he agreed. 

Someone shook Harry’s shoulder. Her eyes shot open. She hadn’t even realized she’d closed them.

“Stay with us,” Owen ordered her. 

“I’ve got reception, sir,” Ianto called. Everyone hurried over to him, even Harry – although the action left her weak.

“How do you do that? We’re sealed off,” Jack pointed out.

“Just used the water tower as a relay,” Ianto said with a shrug.

“Nice work, Ianto. But who the hell do we phone?” Jack asked.

“My husband. Phone him,” Harry said. 

“We need to find someone who can help us,” Jack told her.

“And he can,” Ianto agreed with Harry, handing the phone to her. Harry quickly put it on speaker phone and dialed Sherlock’s number. 

“Kind of a bad time.” Sherlock answered.

“Here too. Sort of dying,” Harry said. There was a curse and the sound bullets. 

“Where the hell are you?” Harry demanded.

“Got into a spot of trouble. Will be home by tea,” Sherlock quipped.

“Look. Here’s the deal. We’re locked in our base, and your wife is dying. She has two hours max before she’s dead, and the only way to save her is for us to get out of here,” Jack said, snatching the phone from Harry. Sherlock was silent for a moment. 

“What do you need?” he asked.

“The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson. We think something in it can get us out,” Jack explained. 

“Call Mary,” Sherlock ordered.

“Does Mary have a copy?” Harry asked.

“No, but she has it memorized,” Sherlock said.

“Who memorizes entire books?” Tosh wondered.

“You’ve never met my family,” Harry murmured.

“Look, don’t die, okay?” Sherlock interrupted them.

“I’ll do my best,” Harry said drily. Theo pulled on her hair slightly, and Harry winced. She touched the back of her head, only for her hand to come away bloodied.

“How are you dying?” Sherlock asked her.

“Looks like a three month old gunshot wound,” Owen said. 

“When the hell were you shot?” Sherlock demanded.

“I wasn’t actually. It’s a bit complicated and we need Emily Dickinson to get out,” Harry bit out. 

“How exactly are you locked in?” Sherlock asked.

“This isn’t the time,” Jack said, starting to hang up.

“No! He might be able to help,” Ianto interrupted, giving Harry a look. Harry nodded in agreement.

“There was a trigger buried in the security. Someone reciting Emily Dickinson’s poem “I Could Not Stop For Death” over and over again locked us down. He’s only reciting the first verse. And the person who installed it had a copy of Emily Dickinson in her house,” Ianto explained.

There was another round of cursing and another round of bullets, then a second voice.

“Bloody hell, right now? You’re on the phone right now? It’d bettered be the bloody Queen!” John cursed at him.

“It’s your sister. Apparently she’s dying. Again. Stall them. Right. So words locked it down? And you’re looking for a way to unlock it? Would she have installed an unlock as well?” Sherlock questioned.

“Surely. In case she accidentally triggered it herself,” Tosh said firmly.

“Right. Words is the lockdown. Try numbers. Call Mary. Ask for the ISBN number for The Complete Emily Dickinson Poems book. If that doesn’t work, go through other numbers related. Now, I’ve really got to go. Call Mary,” Sherlock demanded before hanging up.

“What does your husband do again?” Tosh asked when the silence filled the room.

“I don’t even know anymore,” Harry murmured, eyes drooping. 

“Mary. This Mary person. Number,” Jack demanded. Harry rattled off the number absently. The phone rang once, twice, then was answered. 

“Mary Holmes’s phone, this is a bad time,” Mary answered.

“It’s me. I need the ISBN number to the complete collection of Emily Dickinson,” Harry said. 

“I don’t know if the copy I know is the same,” Mary stated. 

“Give it a try. We don’t have a lot of time,” Ianto said quickly. 

“Zero, one, nine, eight, six, zero, zero, five, eight, five,” Mary said slowly. 

“Hold on,” Tosh said, running for her desk.

“The power’s out. Keyboards won’t work,” Jack pointed out.

“But it might pick up the imprint. Zero, one, nine,” Tosh said as she typed.

“Eight six zero zero five eight five,” Mary repeated for her. Tosh typed it in and the power resumed. 

“Thanks!” Harry breathed.

“Good. Got to dash. I’ll be home by tea!” Mary responded as she hung up.

“Let’s go,” Ianto said immediately.

“I’ve got a tracker on the van. They’re at some hospital. It’s quite a ways from here. Looks like it just stopped,” Tosh said. 

“Then we need to get going. Now,” Jack said, throwing his coat on. Ianto scooped up Harry as Owen took a currently growling Theo from her arms. 

“Is there anything we can do to slow Harry’s death down?” Jack asked Owen.

“No. Nothing. We need to stop the connection. It isn’t just the bullet wound that’s killing her. It’s the loss of the energy needed to maintain her body,” Owen explained. 

“Right. Then let’s go. I wish we were on speaking terms with the police,” Jack muttered. 

“I can hack lights as we go to make them work in our favor,” Tosh volunteered, grabbing a laptop on their way out the door. 

“Good. Let’s go,” Jack ordered.

 

Harry slipped in and out of consciousness as they rode along. They got near the hospital when Tosh cursed. 

“They’re moving again. Can’t predict a specific destination, not yet,” Tosh said.

“Keep feeding it through. We’re catching up.” Jack was distracted by his phone ringing. He glanced down at it. 

Gwen’s number.

“Hello?” Jack said quickly.

But it wasn’t Gwen.

“Did you like the poem, Jack?” Suzie asked him.

“Suzie, where’s Gwen?” Jack demanded.

“I left her in my father’s room. He’s dead, she’s unconscious,” Suzie said.

“Is Gwen hurt?” Jack asked.

“I’d say so. Quite a bit,” Suzie said with a light laugh. Jack covered the phone.

“Shit. Gwen’s hurt. And left at the hospital,” he said.

“Jack, we can’t divert and go there. If we do, Harry’ll die,” Tosh pointed out. 

“But what if Gwen dies?” Owen argued. 

“Suzie, stop this. The glove is killing Harry and keeping you alive,” Jack said into the phone once more.

“I know.”

“Then stop!” Jack ordered.

“But I get to live. Why would I stop?”

“For Harry’s sake. She has a kid, Suzie. A three year old child, who’s here with us right now wanting to know why his Mom can’t even hold her head up. She has an entire family,” Jack said, trying to play on her compassion. 

“I was hoping it would be Gwen. So I could replace her like she’d replaced me. That would have been fair,” Suzie said, her voice filled with bitterness. 

“But it’s not. Harry’s done nothing wrong. We have a tracker on your car, Suzie. We’re going to catch up, I promise,” Jack swore.

“And what happens then?” 

“If Harry dies on her second full day of working at Torchwood, Suzie, I’m going to kill you. I promise. She doesn’t deserve that. She’s just a kid. If she dies, I’ll kill you for the last and final time,” Jack swore. 

“But would you? When there’s a part of her that’s now me? Could you really do that if I’m the only thing left of her?” Suzie tried.

“I don’t think her husband, child, and the rest of her family would agree with you.” 

“I’m sorry Jack, but I want to live. I’ll do anything to live,” Suzie said before hanging up. Jack cursed and glanced out at the road. 

“Jack, she’s heading for the coast line on the B587. It’s a place called Hedley Point. There’s some sort of ferry that goes out to the islands. Get a move on it,” Tosh ordered.

“How long do we have?” Jack asked Owen.

“Ten, maybe twenty minutes? If we’re lucky,” Owen said. 

“And if we’re not?” Ianto asked anxiously from where he was holding Harry. Harry was no longer conscious. Theo, sitting on the floorboard next to Ianto, was crying quietly. 

“Minutes,” Owen said grimly. They sped along, driving until they saw the van. Suzie took off running. Jack was out of the car in a second, hurrying along. Owen moved quickly to the backseat, checking on Harry.

“Let her go,” Jack ordered as he shot Suzie. She crumbled to the ground, but she laughed as she did.

“I can’t,” Suzie said. Jack shot her once more, this time in the heart. Suzie’s eyes stayed open and her lips twisted into a smile.

“I can’t die,” she said giddily. Jack shot her two more times, but she was still there.

“I’m never going to die,” Suzie said.

“How much more of this do you want?” Jack demanded, shooting her another two times.

“It’s all your fault, Jack. You recruited me,” Suzie said bitterly.

“The glove,” Jack said, eyes going wide. 

“What?” Ianto asked. He had hurried out of the car as well. Tosh was still next to the car, and Owen was hovering over Harry’s -hopefully – unconscious body. 

“We need to destroy the glove. It’s what’s keeping them connected,” he said. 

“But the glove’s forty minutes away. Thirty at best,” Ianto said, feeling his throat tighten at the words. 

“And we didn’t leave anyone at the Hub. We always leave someone at the Hub!” Jack cursed.

“Jack. It doesn’t matter,” Owen said quietly. 

“What do you mean, it doesn’t matter?” Jack demanded. Suzie was still laughing on the ground.

“I mean Harry’s dead, Jack.”

 

****

 

They stopped at the hospital to grab Gwen. Suzie was restrained in the back of the van, next to Gwen. 

Jack drove back. Theo had latched onto Owen – to all of their surprise – and had yet to stop crying. 

 

When they got back to the Hub, they destroyed the glove and locked Suzie’s now-dead body away once more. 

Harry was still dead.

 

*****

 

When Harry opened her eyes, she was back at Platform 9 ¾. Her stomach dropped at the realization.

“I’m dead. Again,” she said.

She hadn’t really thought it would happen. In fact, she was sure it wouldn’t. 

But it had. 

“Yes. It did,” a voice agreed with her. Harry spun quickly, to see a figure in a dark cloak standing there. 

“Death,” Harry said, nodding to him. She sat down gracelessly on a bench. The figure settled next to her.

“You didn’t choose Dumbledore’s figure,” she said. 

“No. You don’t need extra guidance from him,” Death agreed. 

“Why would I need guidance? I’m dead,” Harry pointed out. Death’s hand reached out and tapped her finger.

Tapped the resurrection ring.

“You are the Master of Death. You can’t die,” Death said. 

“I just did,” Harry pointed out.

“No. You’ll go back. You can’t die. And it is more than just because you are the Master of Death,” Death said.

“What do you mean?” Harry asked. 

“Remember the prophecy. In killing Voldemort, you sacrificed your own ability to die,” Death told her.

“No. You mean…I can never die?” Harry asked. Panic welled up inside of her.

“Just a moment ago, you wished you hadn’t died,” Death said, its head tilting. 

“I didn’t want to die. Right now. Because I have a family. But what you’re saying is that I’ll never die. I’ll outlive every one of them,” Harry said, feeling sick at the words.

“It’s the price you have to pay for killing Voldemort,” Death said. 

“Then why did I come here at all?” Harry asked bitterly, standing.

“I needed to let you know. You hadn’t the slightest of clues,” Death told her, also standing. 

“Fine. I know. Might as well send me back,” Harry said. 

She felt a coldness wash over her and then nothing. She opened her eyes. 

She was back in the Hub. 

 

*****

 

“I said I was sorry, okay?” Gwen said. 

“I don’t think you understand,” Jack said, his voice deceitfully calm. 

“That girl in there,” Jack said, pointing into the other room where Harry’s body was waiting, “That girl was twenty-one years old. She was on her second day. Second day! She didn’t deserve to die. We could have saved her, had you not disobeyed orders and taken Suzie out on a little road trip.” 

“You can’t all possibly blame me for this,” Gwen said, looking around at the others. 

No friendly faces met her own. Even Owen’s face was hard as he held Harry’s son in his arms. 

“Gwen, you’re suspended. Three weeks. I’ll think of a fair punishment then,” Jack ordered.

“What? That’s not fair! You can’t do that to me, Jack,” Gwen protested, giving him wide eyes.

“I can. That’s entirely fair. Ianto got a month’s suspension following the Cyberwoman incident, and he didn’t even cause a member of the team’s death,” Jack said, his voice hard, unyielding. Gwen stood angrily.

“You’ll call me back here in a few days. You can’t work without me here,” she promised as she grabbed her purse and stomped out of the room, then out of the Hub.

“Who’s going to tell her family?”

It was Ianto that spoke up. Jack turned to stare at his team. 

“After we cover up the gunshot wound and make her body look presentable. We might be able to risk letting them keep her body – she only worked her two days,” Jack said. There was a lump in his throat. He’d lost people before – loads of people, over the years. But never so quickly. So brutally. 

It wasn’t fair. 

Jack glanced towards the autopsy room. From there, they could see Harry’s body where it lie on the table, eyes closed.

And then her eyes opened. 

Jack’s heart stopped for a moment. 

He was out of the room in an instant, running around them and down the stairs. He could hear the others’ footsteps pounding behind his own. 

He came to a screeching halt right in front of the table. Harry’s eyes were still open. And then she blinked.

“Harry?” Jack asked. 

And she turned her head. 

“Hello, Jack,” she said, her voice raspy. She raised her hand to feel under her chin, then the back of her head.

“All gone,” she murmured before slowly sitting up. Still sitting on the table, she wrapped her arms around her knees and tucked her head into her knees. 

Her shoulders began to shake. 

“Bloody hell,” Owen cursed. 

“Mamma?” Theo asked, straining in Owen’s arms for Harry. Harry lifted her tearstained face and accepted the child. She didn’t even try to mask the sorrow in her face. And the sight of Theo only seemed to make it worse.

“You were dead,” Jack said. Harry nodded, swallowing once. Twice. 

“I was. Completely dead. But not anymore,” Harry said. 

“How?” Tosh asked, shooting a surreptitious look at Jack.

“I can’t die.”


	5. The Company of Immortals

“I can’t die.” 

Her words created a heavy silence on the group.

“How long have you known?”

It was Jack who broke the silence, when it became obvious that no one else could.

“Honestly? I just found out,” Harry said, bitterness leaking into her voice. 

“How?” 

“A figure I’d assume was death told me,” Harry said. She gave Theo a frown and began wiping the tears from his face. Ignoring the fact that she had identical ones on her own. 

“I’m a bit in the dark, I guess. But why can’t you die?” Owen asked. His voice sounded a bit funny too. Jack glanced over at him to notice him wiping away the tear trails on his own face. 

“I killed a man. Back in my world. He was a really bad man. I was the only one who could do it. But in killing him, I sacrificed my ability to die. No one told me that, at the time,” Harry admitted. 

“And now you’re cursed to live,” Jack murmured, feeling empathy for the younger girl. He was at least a bit older when he found out.

“How long ago was that?” Tosh asked her. 

“Four years ago,” Harry supplied, not really looking up.

“Is that why you look so young? Did you stop aging too?”

Her words caused Harry’s head to jerk up. 

“I….what? No. No. I can’t,” Harry whispered. 

She then glanced down at the clothes she was wearing, then up at a clock.

“Have you notified my family of my death?” she asked. Jack shook his head.

“Then don’t.”

Her words were met with confusion. She elaborated.

“I don’t want to worry them. They don’t need to know,” she supplied.

“Speaking of your family. What is it they do?” Jack wanted to know. Harry could only shrug.

“I’m not too sure. They’re all very secretive,” Harry said. She glanced back up at the clock.

“I need to get going. Everyone’s going to be home now. For tea. They’ll think the worst has happened,” Harry said, sliding off the table.

“But it has. You died,” Tosh pointed out. 

“Did you get Suzie?” Harry wanted to know.

“Dead once more,” Jack said with a nod. 

“Good. Then I need to go home for the night. If that’s okay. I know I didn’t do much today,” Harry admitted as she bit her lip.

“You did quite a bit,” Jack pointed out. Then sighed.

“Most people don’t die on their second day on the job,” he admitted. Harry cracked a small smile.

“I’m not most people,” she said. 

“I’ll take her home,” Ianto volunteered. Jack glanced between the two of them and nodded. 

“Can you come back tomorrow?” he asked. Harry nodded.

“I’ll be back,” she agreed. Then hesitated.

“What time?” she asked, her voice small. Jack had to laugh.

“Usually about eight. We’re a bit fluid with our time around here,” Jack said.

“We’re about fluid with most things,” Owen muttered, earning a smack from Tosh. 

Harry frowned and glanced around.

“Where’s Gwen?” she asked.

“Suspended. She was the cause of all this. She needs to learn she can’t do whatever she wants,” Jack said grimly. Harry nodded, a frown still on her face.

But she never argued. 

“Come on,” Ianto said, helping her off the table. She wobbled slightly but made it up the stairs with little difficulty. 

“Harry,” Jack called before they left. Harry glanced over her shoulder, shifting Theo to her hip as she did. 

“You’re not alone, you know. Don’t think for a second you’re the only one going through what you are,” Jack told her. Harry gave him a sad smile.

“Thanks for trying, but I’m used to being the only one who understands what I’m going through. This is nothing new,” she told him. 

But her smile seemed slightly shaky. 

As soon as the door closed, Tosh and Owen descended on him.

“Why didn’t you tell her you were like that too?” Tosh demanded.

“Because I didn’t want to overwhelm her,” Jack said. 

“But she….Christ. She’s got a whole family she’s going to outlive,” Owen stated.

“I’ve done it too,” Jack pointed out. He let out a deep sigh.

“Just…we need to be there for her. I think she wins the award for the most messed up first few days on the job,” Jack muttered. 

Owen and Tosh both laughed lightly with him. 

 

****

 

“You spoiled the books for me.” 

They were five minutes away from the Hub when Ianto finally spoke up.

“Sorry?” Harry started, surprised. She hadn’t expected anything to be said on the drive home.

“The books. I was looking forward to reading about the final battle. I mean, I knew you lived. But now I know Voldemort dies,” Ianto told her. 

“I hope you weren’t a Voldemort fan. Because he most certainly died,” Harry said. 

“There went my favorite character,” Ianto muttered dramatically, earning a small smile from Harry. 

“A lot of people died in that battle. A lot of my favorite people, too,” Harry admitted. Ianto was silent with her words. 

“I was pregnant, during the battle.”

Ianto started at her words, taking his eyes entirely from the road. It was only after someone honked at him that he focused back on the road once more. But his eyes kept flashing over to her. 

“What happened?”

“The killing curse happened. It didn’t fully kill me, but the child I was carrying? It didn’t stand a chance,” Harry said bitterly. 

“You have Theo now,” Ianto reminded her, but his voice was much subdued.

“I do,” Harry agreed, “But it’s not the same.”

It was silent again until they pulled up to the house. Ianto turned to her as soon as he turned off the car. 

“Have you told Sherlock?” he wanted to know. Harry shook her head. 

“We aren’t really that close,” Harry said.

“But you want to be. You should be. Try talking to him. It’ll help,” Ianto told her, giving her a small smile. Harry smiled back at him before climbing out of the car.

“See you tomorrow?” she asked.

“Naturally. I’ll have coffee and tea ready by eight,” he told her as she pulled Theo out of the backseat. 

Ianto drove off as Harry walked up the steps to the house. She opened the door quietly and made her way towards the dining room.

They were laughing. All of them. Harry’s heart ached at the sound. She stood there, just out of sight for a few minutes, listening. It took her five minutes of listening to them before she mustered up the courage to enter the room. 

And even then, it was only because Theo’s tummy grumbled.

Harry took a deep breath, steeled herself, and entered the room. 

At first, no one seemed to notice her. The conversation continued to flow. But Sherlock was watching her, his dark eyes following her every movement. He motioned for the chair next to him, and she quietly sank into the chair.

“Harry!” John exclaimed, interrupting the story Mary was telling. Every one of them fell silent as they looked at her. 

“I’m back,” she said, forcing a small smile. 

“Did the Emily Dickinson help?” Mary wanted to know. Harry tried making her smile bigger.

“Yeah. Got us out,” she said. 

“Got you out of where?” Severus asked, his eyes narrowed on her.

“We got locked in the base,” Harry said, trying to wave it off as she settled Theo in his highchair and dipped food onto his plate.

“How did dying of a three-month old bullet wound go for you?”

Sherlock’s cold words drew everyone’s full attention to her. 

“Not very well. Takes more than a bullet wound to kill me,” Harry said, plastering a smile to her face. 

“A bullet wound? Three months old?” John asked, standing quickly. Severus was on his feet quickly too, moving around to her side of the table.

“I’m fine. I wasn’t the one who got it,” Harry tried deflecting, but that only seemed to make it worse.

“What do you mean, you weren’t the one who got it? How were you dying of it then?” Sherlock asked. 

“It’s a long story. All that matters is that I’m fine,” Harry tried. 

“I don’t like this job. I really don’t. Two days in a row you’re injured,” John announced.

“Everyone else has a dangerous job. Why can’t I?” Harry demanded, feeling her temper rise up.

“Everyone else can manage it!” John protested. 

“I can manage it just fine. Better than any of you, actually!” Harry shot back angrily at him.

“Really? It doesn’t look like it,” John pointed out. 

“Well, it’s the truth. Because unlike you all, I can’t die.”

As soon as the words left her mouth, Harry wished she could pull them back. She wasn’t planning on telling them. Then her stupid Gryffindor nature had come out and she’d blurted out her secret. 

“You can die. Everyone can die,” John tried, but Harry shook her head. She might as well tell them, since she’d already slipped up. 

“I can’t. Not anymore. Figured that out today,” Harry explained.

“Sit back down, John,” Severus ordered as he moved back to his own seat as well. Once everyone was back to sitting, Severus motioned for her to continue.

“I died today. And then I didn’t. Met death once more. Turns out, in killing Voldemort, I sacrificed my ability to die. I can’t die. And it doesn’t look like I’m aging, either,” Harry said. 

“Oh dear,” Mrs. Hudson said, wringing her hands. 

“Of course you’re aging. You have to be,” John protested.

“You don’t look a day older than eighteen,” Sherlock stated, staring intently at her.

“And I don’t think I ever will,” Harry said, feeling the bitterness at that realization settle in. 

“This is because of the prophecy?” Severus asked, his voice choked. Harry nodded, only for Severus to stand, attempting to hurry out of the room.

“Severus, we need to talk about this. Sit back down,” Mary ordered him. He didn’t look like he was going to obey her, but after a moment of being placed under her scrutiny he sank back into his chair.

“It’s not your fault,” Harry said, realizing why he was so upset.

“He never would have learned about the prophecy, had I not told him,” Severus said, looking quite miserable. 

“No time to blame anyone. Is there a way to fix it?” Sherlock asked, his eyes glued to her.

“I don’t think so,” Harry said. Sherlock nodded firmly.

“Right. Then we’re going to have to prepare. We can manage five years or so here, I’d wager, before someone really notices Harry isn’t aging. We can prepare everything to be ready to move if someone notices early,” Sherlock suggested.

“But Sherlock, she already looks too young to be married to you. What’s going to happen in five years? Ten? What will we tell people?” John asked.

“It doesn’t matter. We have five to ten years to come up with something,” Sherlock said, angrily waving them off. 

“What were you doing today?” Harry asked, hoping to change the subject before someone pressed it too far.

“Working,” John said, not meeting her eyes.

“You work in a clinic. There’s no way that’s what you were doing,” Harry scoffed at him.

“We took a case. John and I were on it,” Sherlock said, effectively ruining John’s lie. 

“And you?” Harry asked Mary. Mary blinked at her.

“Confidential,” she said effortlessly.

“Confidential? You were working!” John protested.

“And my work is confidential. Sorry. Through the government,” Mary said.

“We’ve just arrived, with faked information. How did you manage to get a job with the government?” John protested. 

“It’s what she did before. Isn’t it?” Sherlock’s voice was quiet. 

“It was,” Mary agreed, but she looked like she didn’t want to be asked any more questions. 

“And you two?” Harry asked Severus and Mrs. Hudson. 

“I was searching the area for herbs and potions ingredients. I need to know what I can run out of and what is abundant,” Severus said.

“And it had to be done yesterday?” Harry asked suspiciously.

“It did. Because I’m already running low on some ingredients,” Severus explained.

“I told him he should go and I’d check out some stores in the area to help him,” Mrs. Hudson explained, giving Harry a soft smile. Harry nodded, glancing at each member of her makeshift family.

“How’s Sirius?”

These were the wrong words for her to say.

Everyone exchanged worried glances, as if they were trying to come up with a lie to tell her. 

“No. I want the truth. I haven’t even been allowed to see him in weeks. You told me he’s healing. He is, isn’t he?” she asked. 

“Not really.”

It was John who finally spoke up. He dragged his eyes up to her and gave her a disheartened sigh. 

“We didn’t want to tell you. It’s taken you so long to finally adjust here, and we couldn’t do that to you,” John admitted.

“What’s wrong with him?” she asked.

“We still don’t know. Bodily, we’ve been slowly regaining his normal weight. We can’t regain muscle because he isn’t aware. His mind is the problem,” Severus said carefully.

“His mind was broke before, after Azkaban. We fixed him then,” Harry argued. 

“There’s a difference. Azkaban was just dementors. This prison had the influence of the Veil as well, constantly eating away at his mind,” Mary tried explaining, and Severus nodded.

“On top of that, Sirius never truly healed from before. He put on a show, for you, but he was never fully healed,” Severus admitted sadly to Harry. 

Harry stood abruptly. 

“I need sleep,” she announced.

“Harry, we need to talk about this,” John tried, but Harry shook her head.

“No. Right now, I need to rest. We can talk more later,” she said firmly. Sherlock stood as well, taking Theo from her. 

“Mrs. Hudson can watch Theo for the night. Come on,” Sherlock told her, placing a hand on the small of her back. He led her up the stairs and to their room, closing the door firmly behind them.

“Are you really okay?” Sherlock asked as Harry began dressing for bed. 

“I’m fine,” Harry answered automatically, shrugging a nightgown on. Sherlock’s hand stopped her movements. He moved in front of her, staring at her with searching eyes. 

“Are you though? Because to me, you seem the opposite of fine. You just learned a few things that are life changing, and your reaction is to sleep. Are you…depressed?” Sherlock tried, looking uncomfortable as he guessed. 

“I’ll be fine,” Harry corrected, but that didn’t appease Sherlock either.

“I’m sure you’ll be fine. You’re not dying, after all. But what about right now?”

His words were like a final blow to a dam. Harry felt tears well up in her eyes. She turned quickly from him, only for him to turn her back towards him. At the sight of her tears, he hesitated for a moment before wrapping his arms around her.

“I don’t know what to do anymore,” Harry admitted quietly.

“None of us do. We all look like we’ve got it all together, but we’re all suffering. We’re all just as lost as you. We’re just better at hiding it,” Sherlock reassured her. Sherlock pulled back and gave her a serious look as he searched her eyes for something. He opened his mouth, then shut it again. 

Then, very tentatively opened it once more. 

“I love you.”

The words were barely a whisper, and he looked so vulnerable as he said them. As if he fully expected her to reject him and kick him out of their room. It was such a step for him. 

“I know,” Harry told him. Sherlock nodded but still looked unsure. He opened his mouth once more, then closed it again. 

“Mary’s pregnant,” he blurted out.

“What?” Harry asked.

“She doesn’t know. Neither does John. I deduced it two weeks back,” Sherlock explained. 

“Why haven’t you told anyone?” Harry asked. Sherlock gave her a searching look. And then he came to his decision. 

“I want a child.”

Harry stared at him blankly.

“We have a child. Theo,” she pointed out. Sherlock nodded.

“I want another,” Sherlock corrected. 

“Theo’s not that old,” Harry protested, but Sherlock shook his head. 

“He’s four. By the time another child is born, he’ll be five. I…I don’t want a gap too large between children. It did Mycroft and me damage,” Sherlock explained. 

“So you want us to have another child?” Harry asked, trying to make sure she understood him. Sherlock nodded quickly. 

Again, Harry hesitated.

“But Sherlock. I’m…I’m not going to die. Or age. How is that going to work?” she asked. 

“We can work out the details of that later. Please,” Sherlock begged her. 

“Why do you want a child so bad?” Harry asked him.

“I have multiple reasons,” Sherlock began before stopping once more. 

“The real reason? I’m sure you have multiple reasons you can give me,” Harry pointed out.

“Theo’s lonely,” Sherlock said. 

“He is?”

“He is. He’ll have John and Mary’s kid to play with, but…I want him to have a sibling also. Then there can be three of them. Three kids for Mrs. Hudson to spoil and take her mind off of the new world she’s in. Three children to make Severus complain about how old he’s getting. Three children for us to take to the parks and to teach things to,” Sherlock tried explaining. He shook his head.

“I…I’m going to have to say it, aren’t I?” he muttered, almost to himself rather than Harry. He mustered up a deep breath and gave Harry a searing, searching look. 

“I love you. And I would like a physical representation of that love. So no matter what, no matter what happens these next few years, these next ten years, there’s proof that we love each other. Proof we can work through anything,” Sherlock managed to articulate. 

“I…wow. That wasn’t what I was expecting,” Harry admitted. Coming from a man who could only just muster up the ability to say he loved her for the first time that evening. 

Sherlock seemed to try and cover whatever semi-mushy emotion had come over him.

“Plus, there’s this crime circle John and I are considering breaking into, and the wife of the ringleader is expecting. We could use someone in the maternity classes,” Sherlock said quickly. 

Harry stared at him for a moment. 

“You made that last part up, didn’t you?” she asked him. 

“It would be a nice way to get close to them,” Sherlock said sheepishly. 

“I guess we could start trying for a child. To get into your crime circle. It might take awhile though,” Harry teased him before frowning slightly. 

“Shouldn’t. I’ve been monitoring your ovulation cycle. The next week is the optimal time for you to get pregnant,” Sherlock said automatically.

“You what?” Harry asked in disbelief. 

Sherlock frowned. 

“Isn’t that…normal?” he asked her. Harry could only shake her head. 

“From you, I shouldn’t have expected anything less.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys. Sorry for the wait. It's been one hell of a summer. I'm still working on this, but it's going slower than before. Sorry for that. Just know I'm not giving up!
> 
> -Andi


	6. Torchwood Days

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are! So sorry about the long wait. More notes at the bottom.

“Hey, what’s that?”

It was a week since Harry had died and came back to life. Ianto had given her a tour of the Hub, Jack had tested her weapons proficiency. Tosh had tried to teach her the basics of the computer system, only for her to break it with her magic. 

And Owen had showed her a bit of first aide, while she showed Owen a few of her “medicines”.

Of everything she did, she preferred working with Ianto in the Archives to anything else. She loved helping him catalog new things. 

Right now, Jack had just arrived with a large bag. He set it gently on the conference table, spreading the contents out. 

“It came out of the rift in one of the parks a ways from here, in the city. That’s what set off the alert,” Tosh explained. 

Harry’s eyes lit up. 

She picked up one of the objects from the table, a box. And promptly opened the box, throwing a bean in her mouth. 

Before gagging.

“What are you doing? You can’t just eat something you find from the rift!” Owen reprimanded her.

“It’s from my universe. Jelly beans. Or so. Every flavor. Bit nasty, half the time,” Harry said. 

“Every flavor? Who was the idiot who came up with that?” Jack asked, staring at her. Harry shrugged. She turned to the table, glancing over the rest of the contents. A newspaper…with a week ago’s date on it. In her time. 

She snatched it up, skimming the headlines.

Something big was happening. The Ministry. Had Mycroft went ahead and destroyed the Ministry or not? There was some sort of unrest. 

She flipped the page over. 

And someone had written over the words with a sharpie. 

Ministry Destroyed. England Attacked. We’re coming through.

“But they can’t,” Harry murmured, blinking rapidly as she stared at the paper. 

Luna. It was Luna’s handwriting. 

“Can’t what? Who?” Jack asked, pulling the paper from her hands. He turned on her, his expression stoic.

“Who’s coming?” he asked. 

“Friends of mine. I think. But they can’t. They won’t be able to make the journey. Not without guidance. They could end up…anywhere,” Harry said, the horror settling over her. 

“We can’t control the rift,” Ianto warned her. Harry started flipping through the rest of the junk.

“Was it found in the bag, or did you gather it?” she asked Jack.

“Found in the bag,” Jack told her. 

So it had all been paired up for a reason. The beans had alerted her as to what it was. The newspaper was a note.

There was half a flier for Weasley Wizarding Wheezes, as well as half a flier for the Romanian Dragon Reserve. A skull – Sherlock’s skull. The one Mycroft had forgotten to pack. Or so he said. Harry picked up the skull, only for a stethoscope to fall out. 

And Luna’s radish earrings, tangled with a crescent moon necklace. 

“But who’s we?” she murmured. Ianto moved closer. 

“Lovegood,” he said, holding up the radish earings, before switching the fliers so Dragon was before Weasley. 

Charlie. 

“And someone else. I don’t understand that clue,” Ianto warned her.

“Sherlock might,” Harry decided. 

“So?” Jack demanded.

“Three of my family’s friends are planning on trying to escape from our world to here,” Harry finally explained.

“Are they a threat?” Tosh asked.

“No. Not to us. Or the planet,” Harry said, tucking the necklace into her pocket. 

“Is there a chance that some of the other stuff we’ve found in the woods came from your world as well?” Tosh asked, pulling Jack and Owen’s suspicious looks from her. 

“It’s a possibility,” Jack said, but frowned.

“We need to cross reference when you came through the rift, so we can be alerted if it flairs up again at that same level or so,” Jack decided. Harry nodded and followed Tosh to the desk, giving Tosh whatever details she could about their arrival. 

She had only finished when her phone started ringing. From the conference table, where she’d dropped it.

“It’s the husband!” Owen shouted, before answering the phone. 

“Is something wrong?” Harry called back, tearing her eyes from Tosh’s screen. Owen was frowning as he listened to Sherlock on the other side. 

“He wants to know how soon you plan on being home. Something about a schedule,” Owen said. 

Harry felt her cheeks heating up. 

“Sod his bloody schedule. Tell him I’ll be home when I’m home,” Harry shouted back at Owen. 

“Give me that phone,” Jack demanded. Owen gladly relinquished the mobile into Jack’s ready hand.

“This is Captain Jack Harkness, your wife’s boss. Now, she is busy at work and it is nowhere near time for her to be off. It’s only three in the afternoon. You are interrupting our work,” Jack said. He looked as if he were about to hang up, only for his eyebrows to shoot up.

“You don’t say. That’s a hazard, for the job,” Jack commented. 

Harry left Tosh’s desk, hurrying back towards the conference table. She had a feeling she knew what Sherlock was telling Jack. 

“I wasn’t planning on it. Jeez. Now, you, on the other hand, looked rather fit. I wouldn’t mind a night with you,” Jack said, winking at Harry.

“Jack, give me my mobile back,” Harry tried, reaching around to attempt to steal the phone back.

Jack merely sidestepped her. 

“We could make it a threesome, if you really want. Don’t act so alarmed,” Jack teased. 

“Don’t tease my husband,” Harry protested. 

“You don’t even know where the base is. Harry hasn’t told you,” Jack said with confidence.

“She doesn’t have to.”

The voice came from behind them. Jack turned and stared in disbelief as Sherlock hung up his mobile and tucked it into his pants pocket.

“Now, I believe we have a schedule,” Sherlock said, giving her a pointed look.

“Oi! You can’t be here!” Owen protested.

“Your alarms are pitiful, to be frank. Child’s play,” Sherlock drawled.

“What sort of schedule?” Ianto asked suspiciously. 

“He has a sex schedule set up,” Jack interjected smoothly. The red in Harry’s cheeks flared up, as did Tosh’s. Owen just snickered, leaving Ianto to look disbelieving. 

“I told you I’d be home,” Harry pointed out.

“I told you it wasn’t good enough. I did all the necessary calculations. In order for the egg to have optimal chances at attaching to the uterus wall, you need to engage in sex about this time before finishing with light work for two hours. Not laying down,” Sherlock informed her.

“Wait – you’re trying to have a kid?” Owen asked, all traces of amusement on his face gone. 

“There’s nothing against it, is there?” Harry asked. Owen turned to Jack.

“There’s no rule against it. It’ll just be…harder,” Jack tried explaining. 

“Unfortunately, if you want her to continue here, you’ll have to deal with it. We are having a child. In nine months, if I have anything to say about it,” Sherlock said, giving Harry a look. 

“I’ve been doing everything you said!” Harry protested. 

“We’ll see,” Sherlock said dismissively. 

“I’ll take the day off. Tomorrow. The day after. Okay? But I’m working on something right now,” Harry protested. 

“You could always go downstairs. I’ll join you,” Jack offered. Ianto snorted at his words and Sherlock did not look pleased. 

“She is my wife, not yours,” Sherlock protested, irritated.

“I wasn’t going to sleep with her,” Jack said, giving him a lavish look and a wink. 

Sherlock looked scandalized.

“And Owen will have the CCTV up in seconds,” Jack added.

“Twice. Only twice,” Owen protested. 

“My wife,” Sherlock emphasized, “And I will go home for sex.”

He started to reach for Harry, only to freeze. His eyes narrowed and he turned around, staring down at the table.

At his skull. 

“Ah! It’s Hamish!” Sherlock said gleefully, scooping the skull up in his arms. 

“You named your skull Hamish?” Harry asked in disbelief.

“You weren’t around yet,” Sherlock waved her off. He then proceeded to inspect each and every inch of the thing.

“That’s your skull?” Ianto asked, giving him a flat look. 

“He talks to it when John isn’t around,” Harry informed them. 

Sherlock was staring at the stethoscope. 

“That’s Molly’s,” he said. 

So Molly was coming as well. 

“Right. So all three people coming through the rift are safe. And will not harm anyone,” Harry informed Jack.

“Coming after us? They can’t,” Sherlock told her.

“They are. Two of my friends and one of yours. Your brother succeeded, by the way,” Harry noted.

“He usually does, when he puts his mind to it,” Sherlock waved it off.

Owen was watching them a bit more closely than before. As if he was remembering something he wasn’t supposed to.

“What I want to know is how you found the base?” Tosh spoke up. She didn’t look like she trusted Sherlock at all. 

“Easy. I follow your driving records. Planted a chip in the van one night. Child’s play,” Sherlock waved him off. 

“You chipped our van?” Jack demanded, looking furious. 

“Not good?” Sherlock asked, turning to Harry. Harry let out a sigh.

“No, love. It’s not good. Why aren’t you working? I thought you were finally getting that business up?” Harry asked. 

“Of course I do. Each case was dull today. I left John on one. It’ll take him another hour. I finished it in two minutes,” Sherlock dismissed.

“It’s not nice to run off and leave my brother like that,” Harry chastised him.

“It makes him improve,” Sherlock tried defending himself. 

“What sort of business?” Owen asked.

“He started up a detective business. Thought it was funny, when he found out his last name was Holmes and there was all these stories about a Sherlock Holmes,” Harry said with a laugh.

Owen’s eyes only narrowed even more. 

“You know,” Owen began, “If you were trying to get pregnant, you should have come to me.”

This earned Owen a glare from each and every person in the room. 

“Because I’m a bloody doctor, mate. Calm down. I didn’t mean it like that,” Owen spat at Sherlock.

“Why would she need a doctor? I can monitor her just fine,” Sherlock dismissed. 

“Sherlock,” Harry tried. 

“Are you sure? Anything in her history we should be aware of them? Things that might make a pregnancy more difficult? Like…say, abuse?”

Sherlock went silent. As did Harry. Tosh and Jack looked surprised, while Ianto was just…sorrowful?

“What are you implying?” Sherlock asked, his voice deadly. But Jack was watching him even more closely now. 

“Harry?” Jack pressed, staring at her. 

“I did have a miscarriage Maybe it is a good idea. For a checkup,” Harry said carefully. 

But no one moved.

“What kind of abuse?” Tosh asked, her voice softer, more hesitant. 

“I think it’s time for us to head out,” Sherlock announced.

“Actually, I don’t think so. Not until we get to the bottom of this. I’m not allowing you to leave here with a potentially abusive husband,” Jack said firmly.

“Him? No. Of course not,” Harry said, almost shocked that that was the assumption. 

“Relatives, I’d say,” Owen said, still staring at her.

“You live with your family,” Tosh said carefully. Harry gave Sherlock a look.

“Harry did not grow up with her family. She was raised by her aunt and uncle due to…certain circumstances. The family was unaware of the abuse Harry suffered until she grew up. Mrs. Hudson, I believe, is still unaware. We didn’t want to upset her over the incident,” Sherlock lied smoothly.

“You didn’t want her upset that her daughter was abused?” Jack asked in disbelief. 

“It wasn’t her fault,” Harry said quickly. 

“Mrs. Hudson was uninformed. Mr. Hudson had left her to go to teach at a boarding school, and she already had John. Her sister was childless and volunteered to raise Harry,” Sherlock said. 

“A conveniently prepared and purposefully vague story,” Jack said, crossing his arms. 

“Actually, Jack,” Owen interrupted, “That lines up with the few details Ianto let slip to me.”

“Ianto?” Jack asked in disbelief. 

“As well as our previous checkup. We knew she’d been abused in the past. We knew that, before Suzie. And from Ianto’s said, I don’t think her husband’s continued to abuse her,” Owen explained himself. 

“I’ve been to their house a few times. I would like to say we’re friends,” Ianto said dryly. 

Jack held up his hands.

“Fine. No more questions. Husband, get out. Unless you want a threesome in the basement, I don’t want to see you here. Harry, Owen’ll run an in-depth check up on you,” Jack ordered. Everyone nodded as Tosh went back to her computer and Sherlock grumbled before kissing Harry on the forehead and taking off, his coat billowing out behind him. 

Harry silently followed Owen to the autopsy room. 

“Harry Potter,” Owen hissed as Harry walked past him. 

“Harry Holmes,” Harry corrected him. Owen merely pointed to the autopsy table, watching as Harry tentatively climbed back on the table. 

“A miscarriage?” Owen asked her as he plugged in a device.

“I was injured in a fight,” she supplied. 

“Any one I’ve heard about?” Owen asked.

“Not yet. I was told the last book has yet to come out,” Harry stated, keeping her voice as nonchalant as possible. 

“What sort of abuse? You managed to carry one child to full term,” Owen commented as he held a device over her stomach. 

“I’ve never carried a child to full term.”

Her words were scarcely spoken above a whisper, but Owen still heard them. 

“Adopted then?” he asked. Harry nodded. 

“What type of abuse?” Owen repeated once more. 

“Nothing too bad,” Harry tried evasively.

“The books described malnutrition,” Owen began.

“Neglect mainly,” Harry summarized. 

“Which would explain your small stature,” Owen agreed. Harry nodded. Owen moved the small device around. 

“Jack,” Owen called out, getting his attention, “You can call back the husband and tell him he doesn’t have to worry about Harry getting home in time for baby-making sex.” Owen called out.

“Why is that?” Jack asked, popping his head over the railing. 

“As of now, she’s already pregnant. Congratulations, the egg’s attached to the uterus wall.” 

“It worked?” Harry asked in disbelief. 

“Looks like it. Doesn’t mean it won’t fail,” Owen said, putting the device up.

And Harry groaned.

“He’s not going to let me do anything now,” Harry muttered.

“No. He probably won’t,” Ianto agreed, a smile splitting his face. 

“I’m not fragile,” Harry complained.

“You miscarried before,” Ianto warned her. 

“I was also starving and traipsing around the country, living in a tent at the time,” Harry shot back.

Only to frown.

She wasn’t supposed to say that. 

“I thought you were married,” Jack said, eyes narrowing on her.

“I am. I wasn’t then. I was sixteen or so,” Harry said, trying to make her age sound believable. 

“Same man?” Jack asked.

“For your information,” Harry shot back, feeling her blood boil, “It was not. He was killed about the time I miscarried.”

Both Ianto and Owen frowned. 

“So it was a stress-induced miscarriage?” Tosh asked softly. Harry shrugged.

“A lot of stuff was happening,” she said with a shrug, brushing past them.

“Take the rest of the day off,” Jack called after her.

“I’m fine,” Harry responded.

“That’s an order. Go get rest. I’m allowing Gwen back tomorrow,” Jack said. 

No one looked pleased.

“I thought she would be suspended for three weeks,” Tosh complained.

“Harry can’t do dangerous missions. We’ll take her back and make her do them. And make her do paperwork,” Jack said dismissively.

“Can you make her do all the paperwork?” Harry asked. Jack gave her a questioning look.

“It’s just…Ianto’s so busy, helping me out. We’re going through the Archives, seeing what I know about the objects. He’s doing his fair share of work,” Harry said, keeping her voice light and innocent. 

“I think I can arrange that,” Jack said, his own smile starting to form on his face.

 

 

*****

The moment Harry made it through the door, Sherlock was there trying to whisk her upstairs.   
“You’re good, Sherlock,” Harry protested.

Sherlock stopped pulling her, giving her a look.

“Owen ran a scan. As of right now, it’s worked,” Harry told him. 

“It worked?” he asked, his voice low.

“It worked. Still really early, but… the egg attached to the wall,” Harry explained. 

And a smile broke out on Sherlock’s face. 

He pulled her into the living room, where Mrs. Hudson was knitting and John and Severus were talking. 

“Where’s Mary and Theo?” Sherlock demanded.

“Upstairs?” John said, his tone questioning. 

“Go get them!” Sherlock ordered.

“Is something wrong, dear?” Mrs. Hudson asked.

“No! We just have an announcement,” Sherlock said. 

Mrs. Hudson and Severus exchanged looks as John hurried up the stairs. A few minutes later, Mary and Theo followed him down the stairs. 

“Harry! I thought you were working later,” Mary said. 

“I was, but I was told to go home early,” Harry said.

“Why? What happened?” John asked worriedly. Harry gave Sherlock a look and Sherlock grinned. 

“There will two new babies in this house in nine months,” Sherlock said.

The house was silent. 

“Two babies?” Mary asked sharply. 

“Harry is pregnant,” Sherlock said. And then he gave Mary a look. 

“What?” Mary asked, her voice low. John just glanced between the two.

“Wait – am I missing something?” John asked. 

“Are you sure?” Mary asked, her face stony. 

“Two months, I’d wager. You are, any ways,” Sherlock said.

“Really?” Mrs. Hudson asked, her eyes lighting up. 

“I don’t get what’s….Sherlock, are you saying Mary is pregnant?” John demanded. 

“Mary and Harry,” Sherlock said with a nod. 

“What?” John repeated. 

“There’s going to be three children running around this house soon,” Severus said flatly. 

“They won’t run for awhile,” Harry tried, but Severus just gave her a look. 

“What did your boss say about that?” John finally managed to ask, his eyes staring at Mary even as he directed the words to Harry.

“They’ll try keeping me out of danger,” Harry said with a shrug. 

“Try?” Severus asked sharply. 

“Well, they can’t promise. I got hurt before I even left the base,” Harry pointed out. 

“Babies,” Severus said blankly. 

“Oh, hush now,” Mrs. Hudson lectured him. 

“How far along are you?” Mrs. Hudson then asked Harry.

“Um….less than a week?” Harry asked curiously. 

“Less than a week?” Mrs. Hudson asked, blinking.

“We have good tech at Torchwood,” Harry defended herself. 

“Children?” John said, blinking. 

“Children,” Sherlock agreed, his grin nearly splitting his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, I am really sorry about this. I've been living overseas for five and a half months now, and I still have five weeks or so left here. So it's been difficult, finding the time and energy to write. I am still continuing all of my stories, though, so don't worry. Just don't expect frequent updates - I'm going back to school for a Masters in the fall, so I don't know how much time I'm going to have then either. But I'm still working on everything.
> 
> I am at least trying to get to a good ending point in this story before stopping it. There will be closure, I promise. I'm not planning on cutting it off abruptly. :)
> 
> Thanks for your patience and understanding. 
> 
> (Also, please, I write for the fun of it. I write because I want to write. I can handle constructive criticism. I have no problem with that. I do not like people tearing my work apart. I am not sending it to a publisher - this is pure free time here. I don't have to keep writing this. If you have a problem with the story, you can stop reading. Now, if it's something like an error I can fix - someone pointed out me having Ron and Hermione dead in the beginning and then show up alive later in the first story - that's fine. I'll *eventually* get back to fixing errors like that. But for now, I'd rather not get flames talking about how they don't like the story. It's things like that that make me not want to waste my time. Constructive criticism - good. Flames - not so much. )
> 
> Thanks for taking the time to read that! And thanks for sticking with the story!

**Author's Note:**

> So there we go! Let me know what you think! I have a lot of ideas as to where this is going!


End file.
